Polypropylene Mesh Repair in Abdominal Wall Hernias; an Analytic Study at Tertiary Hospitals of Northern Border Region of Saudi Arabia

.. Objectives: To determine the beneficial out comes, recurrence rate and complications of the repair of abdominal wall hernia reinforced with polyprolene mesh. Study Design: This was a retrospective interventional quasi experimental study. Setting: Surgical departments of Central Hospital and Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Musaad Hospital, Arar, Saudi Arabia. Duration of Study: November 2012 to October 2016. Material and Methods: Adult patients of both genders, who underwent repair for various abdominal wall hernias during above mentioned period, were included in the study. Their demographic data, relevant history and physical examination, post-operative notes, prognosis and any complications, including recurrence, infection, adhesions, pain and mesh degradation were recorded in a pre-structured questionnaire. The data was then analyzed with standard statistical methods. Results: From a total of 156 patients, 94 (60.3%) were males and 62 (39.7%) female between the age of 20 to 75 years. There were relatively fewer complications, including seroma (12.8%), post-operative pain (9.6%), infection (3.8%), adhesions (0.6%) and no recurrence rate. The uneventful recovery was observed in 73% of cases. Conclusions: Pure polypropylene mesh is economical than the newer composite meshes for the open repair of abdominal wall hernia, is easily available and caused relatively fewer complications with no recurrence rate.