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Background Early surgical results after emergency repairs for the most frequent ventral hernias (epigastric, umbilical, and incisional) are not well described. Thus, the aim of present study was to investigate early results and risk factors for poor 30-day outcome after emergency versus elective repair for ventral hernias. Methods All patients undergoing epigastric, umbilical, or incisional hernia repair registered in the Danish Hernia Database during the period 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2010 were included in the prospective study. Follow-up was obtained through administrative data from the Danish National Patient Register. Results In total, 10,041 elective and 935 emergency repairs were included. The risk for 30-day mortality, reoperation, and readmission was significantly higher (by a factor 2–15) after emergency repairs than after elective repairs ( p  ≤ 0.003). In addition, there were significantly more patients with concomitant bowel resection after emergency repairs than after elective repairs ( p  < 0.001). Independent risk factors for emergency umbilical/epigastric hernia repair were female gender, older age, hernia defects >2–7 cm, and repair for a primary hernia (vs recurrent hernia) (all p  < 0.05). Independent risk factors for emergency incisional hernia repair were female gender, increasing age, and hernia defects ≤7 cm (all p  < 0.05). Conclusions Emergency umbilical/epigastric or incisional hernia repair was beset with up to 15-fold higher mortality, reoperation, and readmission rates than elective repair. Older age, female gender, and umbilical hernia defects between 2 and 7 cm or incisional hernia defects up to 7 cm were important risk factors for emergency repair.

Groin hernia repair is a commonly performed surgical procedure in the western world but large-scaled epidemiologic data are sparse. Large-scale data on the occurrence of groin hernia repair may provide further understanding to the pathophysiology of groin hernia development. This study was undertaken to investigate the age and gender dependent prevalence of groin hernia repair. In a nationwide register-based study, using data from the Civil Registration System covering all Danish citizens, we established a population-based cohort of all people living in Denmark on December 31(st), 2010. Within this population all groin hernia repairs during the past 5 years were identified using data from the ICD 10(th) edition in the Danish National Hospital Register. The study population covered n = 5,639,885 persons. During the five years study period 46,717 groin hernia repairs were performed (88.6% males, 11.4% females). Inguinal hernias comprised 97% of groin hernia repairs (90.2% males, 9.8% females) and femoral hernias 3% of groin hernia repairs (29.8% males, 70.2% females). Patients between 0-5 years and 75-80 years constituted the two dominant groups for inguinal hernia repair. In contrast, the age-specific prevalence of femoral hernia repair increased steadily throughout life peaking at age 80-90 years in both men and women. The age distribution of inguinal hernia repair is bimodal peaking at early childhood and old age, whereas the prevalence of femoral hernia repair increased steadily throughout life. This information can be used to formulate new hypotheses regarding disease etiology with regard to age and gender specifications.

BackgroundTransanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) represents a choice of treatment in patients with neoplastic lesions in the rectum. When TEM fails, completion total mesorectal excision (cTME) is often required. However, a concern is whether cTME increases the rate of abdominoperineal resections (APR) and is associated with higher risk of incomplete mesorectal fascia (MRF) resection. The aim of this study was to compare outcomes of cTME with primary TME (pTME) in patients with rectal cancer.MethodsThis was a nationwide study on all patients with cTME from the Danish Colorectal Cancer Group database between 2005 and 2015. Patients with cTME were compared to patients with pTME after propensity score matching (matching ratio 1:2). Matching variables were age, gender, tumor distance from anal verge, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score and American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage.ResultsA total of 60 patients with cTME were compared with 120 patients with pTME. Patients with cTME experienced more intraoperative complications as compared to pTME patients (18.3% vs. 6.7%, p = 0.021). However, there was no difference in the rate of perforations at or near the tumor/previous TEM site (6.7% vs. 2.5%, p = 0.224), conversion to open surgery (p = 0.733) or 30-day morbidity (p = 0.86). On multivariate analysis, cTME was not a risk factor for APR (OR 2.49; 95% CI 0.95–6.56; p = 0.064) or incomplete MRF (OR 1.32; 95% CI 0.48–3.63; p = 0.596). There was no difference in the rate of local recurrence between cTME and pTME (5.2% vs. 4.3%, p = 0.1), distant metastases (6.8% vs. 6.8%, p = 1), or survival (p = 0.081). The mean follow-up time was 6 years.ConclusionIn our study, the largest so far on the subject, we find no difference in postoperative short- or long-term outcomes between cTME and pTME.

Mesh repair reduces the risk of reoperation for recurrence in patients with primary ventral hernias. However, reoperation for recurrence underestimates total recurrence (reoperation + clinical) and mesh reinforcement may induce chronic pain. This study investigated the total recurrence and risk of chronic pain in small primary ventral hernias. A cohort study with questionnaire and clinical follow-up was conducted. Patients with primary, elective, open mesh or sutured repair for a small umbilical or epigastric hernia (≤2 cm) were included. One thousand three hundred thirteen patients completed the questionnaire. The total cumulated recurrence rate after primary repair was 10% for mesh repair and 21% for sutured repair (P = .001). The incidence of chronic pain was 6% after mesh repair and 5% after sutured repair (P = .711). Mesh repair halved long-term risk of recurrence after repair for small ventral hernias without increased risk of chronic pain. •An operation for a small umbilical or epigastric hernia is one of the most frequent conducted surgical procedures but the long-term risk of recurrence (reoperation or clinical) and chronic pain is unknown.•The optimal repair technique remains controversial, since mesh reinforcement lowers the risk of recurrence but may increase risk of chronic pain.•This study found a high risk of recurrence and documented that mesh reinforcement halved the risk of recurrence from 21% to 10% without increasing the risk of moderate or severe chronic pain of 5%.

BackgroundGroin hernia management has a significant worldwide diversity with multiple surgical techniques and variable outcomes. The International guidelines for groin hernia management serve to help in groin hernia management, but the acceptance among general surgeons remains unknown. The aim of our study was to gauge the degree of agreement with the guidelines among health care professionals worldwide.MethodsForty-six key statements and recommendations of the International guidelines for groin hernia management were selected and presented at plenary consensus conferences at four international congresses in Europe, the America’s and Asia. Participants could cast their votes through live voting. Additionally, a web survey was sent out to all society members allowing online voting after each congress. Consensus was defined as > 70% agreement among all participants.ResultsIn total 822 surgeons cast their vote on the key statements and recommendations during the four plenary consensus meetings or via the web survey. Consensus was reached on 34 out of 39 (87%) recommendations, and on six out of seven (86%) statements. No consensus was reached on the use of light versus heavy-weight meshes (69%), superior cost-effectiveness of day-case laparo-endoscopic repair (69%), omitting prophylactic antibiotics in hernia repair, general or local versus regional anesthesia in elderly patients (55%) and re-operation in case of immediate postoperative pain (59%).ConclusionGlobally, there is 87% consensus regarding the diagnosis and management of groin hernias. This provides a solid basis for standardizing the care path of patients with groin hernias.

Background and objectiveBariatric surgery is a major event associated with psychological changes such as improvements in self-esteem, increased autonomy, and better self-value. Such changes could affect the patient’s interpersonal relationships; however, little is known about the impact of bariatric surgery on changes in relationship status. In this paper, we aim to test the hypothesis that bariatric surgery is associated with changes in interpersonal relationships such as becoming single for those who were in a relationship or entering a relationship among those who were single before surgery.MethodsThis register-based cohort study consisted of 12,493 patients undergoing bariatric surgery (95% gastric bypass) from 2005 to 2013 and a reference group of 15,101 individuals with obesity between the age of 18–63 with a body mass index between 32 and 60 kg/m2. Transitions between married, divorced, widowed, never-married single, and living with a partner without being married were analyzed by Poisson regression. Additionally, the outcome was dichotomized, and transitions between being single and being in a relationship were also analyzed. All analyses were weighted using inverse probability of treatment weighting based on propensity scores.ResultsThe overall incidence rate ratio (IRR) of changing status from being single to in a relationship was 2.03 (95% CI: 1.18–2.28), and the overall IRR of changing status from being in a relationship to single was 1.66 (95% CI: 1.50–1.83).ConclusionBariatric surgery is associated with a higher chance of finding a partner among single individuals, and a higher risk of separating from a partner among individuals in a relationship.

BackgroundObesity is associated with adverse labor market outcomes. We examine whether undergoing bariatric surgery is associated with better labor market outcomes such as lower risks of unemployment and sickness absence.MethodsThis is a register-based cohort study of 9126 patients undergoing bariatric surgery from 2005 to 2013 and a reference group of 10,328 individuals with obesity. Age: 18–60 years, body mass index (BMI): 32–60 kg/m2. Participants were either working, unemployed, or on sickness absence at baseline. Inverse probability of treatment weighting was used to account for baseline differences between the two groups. Relative risk ratios of labor market participation were estimated at 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years of follow-up.ResultsWomen who had undergone bariatric surgery had a higher risk of unemployment 1 year (RRR = 1.20 (95% CI: 1.02–1.41)) and 5 years (RRR = 1.23 (95% CI: 1.05–1.44)) after surgery; however, men with bariatric surgery had a lower risk of unemployment after 5 years (RRR = 0.71 (95% CI: 0.55–0.92)). The risk of sickness absence was higher at all follow-up time points for both men and women who had undergone bariatric surgery compared with non-operated references with obesity.ConclusionsMen undergoing bariatric surgery had a lower risk of unemployment 5 years after surgery compared with non-operated men with obesity; however, women presented a higher risk of unemployment after 5 years. The risk of sickness absence was higher for both men and women up to 5 years after undergoing bariatric surgery.

: Motor skill learning already triggers the functional reorganization of regional brain activity after short periods of training. Recent studies suggest that microstructural change may emerge at similar timescales, but the spatiotemporal profiles of functional and structural plasticity have rarely been traced in parallel. Recently, we demonstrated that 5 days of endoscopic skill training induces changes in task-related brain activity in the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) and other areas of the frontoparietal grasping network. Here, we analyzed microstructural data, collected during the same experiment to investigate if microstructural plasticity overlaps temporally and spatially with the training-induced changes in task-related brain activity. : Thirty-nine students were divided into a full-routine group ( = 20), that underwent three endoscopy training sessions in the MR-scanner as well as a 5-day virtual reality (VR)-endoscopy training and a brief-routine group ( = 19), that only performed the in-scanner endoscopy training sessions. Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)-derived fractional anisotropy (FA) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) were collected at baseline, after the first and after the last VR-training session. : The full-routine group showed significant FA changes in a left-hemispheric subcortical cluster underlying the PMv region, for which we previously demonstrated functional plasticity during endoscopy training in the same sample. Functional (task-related fMRI) and structural (FA) changes showed the largest change from the first to the second scan, suggesting similar temporal dynamics. In the full-routine group, the FA change in the subcortical cluster underlying the left PMv scaled positively with the individual improvement in endoscopic surgery. : Microstructural white-matter plasticity mirrors the spatiotemporal profile of task-dependent plasticity during a 5-day course of endoscopy skill training. The observed similarities motivate future research on the interplay between functional and structural plasticity during early skill acquisition.

Background Studies on the circadian variation in bodily functions and sleep are important for understanding the pathophysiological processes in the postoperative period. We aimed to investigate changes in the circadian variation in activity after minimally invasive surgery (laparoscopic cholecystectomy, LC) and major abdominal surgery (MAS) and if these changes correlated with postoperative subjective recovery measures. Methods We examined 76 and 44 patients undergoing LC and MAS, respectively, for 4 days before and after surgery. Subjective recovery parameters were assessed by visual analogue scale (sleep quality, general well-being and pain) and fatigue was measured by a ten-point fatigue scale. The activity levels of the patients were monitored by actigraphy (a wrist-worn device measuring patient activity). Measures of circadian activity level [interday stability (IS), intraday variability (IV) and the amplitude (AMP)] were derived after nonparametric analysis of activity data. Results IS was significantly reduced both after MAS (0.72 before surgery and 0.58 after surgery, p  < 0.0001) and after LC (0.76 before surgery and 0.66 after surgery, p  < 0.0001). The IS dropped significantly more following MAS surgery compared with following LC surgery ( p  < 0.001). The fragmentation of the rhythm IV increased and the amplitude dropped significantly after both LC and MAS surgery. Subjective recovery parameters were worse after MAS when compared with LC, and correlated significantly to the circadian activity parameters (IS, IV and AMP). Conclusion Severely disturbed circadian activity parameters was found after both LC and MAS with worse changes after MAS. Measures of circadian activity pattern analyses correlated significantly with postoperative subjective recovery parameters.

Findings from several statistically underpowered heterogeneous randomised controlled trials7,8 and subsequent meta-analyses done with less than robust methods have suggested that mesh reduces the risk for recurrence of umbilical hernias by 50-75% compared with sutures, without a significant increase in postoperative complications.9,10