Reconstruction of an infected recurrent ventral hernia after a mesh repair using a pedicled tensor fascia lata flap: report of two cases.

Recently, the use of prosthetic mesh has revolutionized the repair of ventral hernias. However, the occurrence of infection related with the use of this prosthesis remains an important complication, which may result in occurrence of fistula formation of the skin or intestine, sepsis, or reoccurrence of ventral hernia. This report presents two cases where a pedicled musculocutaneous flap using the tensor fascia lata (pedicled TFL flap) was effective as a treatment for an infectious large abdominal hernia, and reviews the previous literature. Two Japanese men aged 61 and 78 years old underwent a ventral hernia repair using Composix Kugel mesh. They both developed a wound infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Conservative therapy was not successful and the defect in the abdominal wall of two patients measured 12 x 21 cm and 7 x 10 cm in length, respectively. Reoperations were performed by removing the infectious mesh and then reconstructing the abdominal wall with the bilateral and left-side pedicled TFL flaps, respectively. No recurrence of the ventral hernia has been recognized for 50 months and 7 months after reoperation, respectively. A review of previous studies showed that no patients treated with a pedicled TFL flap experienced a recurrent hernia. Therefore, the pedicled TFL flap was considered to be effective for infectious large abdominal recurrent hernia.