Prosthetic Mesh Repair for Large Paracolostomy Hernia

described. These may be categorized broadly into fascial repair, stoma relocation and fascial repair with prosthetic material. There is no consensus regarding the optimal method of repair and there has been virtually no critical examination of the efficacy of these types of hernia repair. Thorlakson [25] recommends a direct repair via the ostomy site with closure of the defect with non absorbable suture. Goligher [9] recommends relocation of the stoma and primary closure of the fascial defect. In large hernias. Rosin and Bonardi [17] and Abdu [1] use a sheet of mesh over the fascial defect anteriorly bringing the stoma out through this mesh. Although they reported minimal complications. Sugerbaker [23] and Byers et al. [4] stated that the use of prosthetic mesh in contaminated field should be avoided. Each of them described a different technique of prosthetic repair through a peritoneal approach. This study was designed in order to evaluate the prevalence of paracolostomy hernia at NCI and to test the efficacy of intra-abdominal repair of paracolostomy hernia using polypropylene mesh and try to avoid the problems that bacterial contamination of the operative field present.