Intraperitoneal tension-free repair of small midline ventral abdominal wall hernias with a Ventralex hernia patch: initial experience in 51 patients.

Midline ventral hernias are common. Tension-free mesh repair of ventral hernias is becoming popular due to the high recurrence rate with conventional techniques. We have used an open intraperitoneal technique using the Bard Ventralex hernia patch in midline ventral hernias (<or=3 cm). Fifty-one patients were treated (34 males and 17 females) with a mean age of 52.4 years (range 18-82). Forty-three patients were day cases. Operative times, analgesic use, overnight hospital stay and postoperative complications were recorded prospectively. The mean operative time was 30 min (range 10-68). Thirty-six patients required mild/moderate postoperative analgesia. Two patients had minor wound infections and one had seroma. There was one recurrence. Our early experience suggests that Ventralex hernia patch repair of small midline ventral hernias can be performed as a day case with minimal postoperative complications.