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Background Surgical techniques for inguinal hernia repair have evolved rapidly from open methods to conventional laparoscopic totally extra-peritoneal (CTEP) and recently single-port TEP (STEP). As there is currently no randomized controlled trial (RCT) reporting long-term patient-reported outcomes between CTEP and STEP, we reviewed patients who were randomized to CTEP or STEP 5 years after surgery. Methods Telephone interviews were administered to patients with primary unilateral inguinal hernia recruited for the RCT comparing CTEP and STEP in 2011. The modified Body Image Questionnaire was used to measure long-term patient-reported outcomes. Results Forty-two out of forty-nine of the STEP group and forty-one out of fifty of the CTEP group responded to phone interviews. Median follow-up time, demographic data and clinical outcomes were comparable between both groups. The Body Image Score (5–20: 5—least dissatisfied, 20—most dissatisfied; BIS score ± SD, STEP vs. CTEP, 5.33 ± 0.90 vs. 7.17 ± 1.87, p  < 0.001) and Cosmetic Score (2–20: 2—least satisfied, 20—most satisfied; CS score ± SD, STEP vs. CTEP, 19.05 ± 1.31 vs. 15.87 ± 1.57, p  < 0.001) were superior in the STEP group. Similarly, self-reported scar perception (1—cannot be seen, 2—can barely be seen, 3—visible; scar perception score ± SD, STEP vs. CTEP, 1.29 ± 0.51 vs. 2.55 ± 0.64, p  < 0.001) and overall experience score (1—least satisfied, 10—most satisfied; overall satisfaction score ± SD, STEP vs. CTEP, 9.57 ± 0.67 vs. 8.22 ± 0.94, p  < 0.001) were superior in the STEP group. Conclusion Patients who underwent STEP reported superior cosmetic and satisfaction scores and comparable surgical outcomes 5 years after surgery compared to the CTEP group. STEP should be strongly considered in patients who are concerned about long-term cosmetic outcomes and should be offered if surgical expertise is available. Trial registration NCT02302937

PurposeThere has not been a consensus on the superiority of a surgical approach for minimally invasive ventral hernia repair. This systematic review and meta-analysis (SRMA) aims to compare clinical, and patient-reported outcomes of robotic-assisted ventral hernia repair (rVHR) to traditional endo-laparoscopic ventral hernia repair (lapVHR).MethodsWe searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane and Scopus from inception to 16th March 2021. We selected randomised controlled trials and propensity score matched studies comparing rVHR to lapVHR. A meta-analysis was done for the outcomes of operative time, length of hospital stay, open conversion, recurrence, surgical site occurrence and cost.ResultsA total of 5 studies (3732 patients) were included in the qualitative and quantitative synthesis. Significantly shorter operative times were reported with the lapVHR as compared to rVHR (weighted mean difference (WMD): 62.52, 95% CI: 50.84–74.19). There was also significantly less rates of open conversion with rVHR as compared to lapVHR (WMD: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.09–0.54). No significant differences in patient-reported outcomes that was discernible from the two papers that reported them.ConclusionOverall, rVHR is comparable to lapVHR with longer operative times but less open conversion. It is, therefore, important to have proper patient selection to maximise the utility of rVHR.

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.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant changes to surgical practice across the worlds. Some countries are seeing a tailing down of cases, while others are still having persistent and sustained community spread. These evolving disease patterns call for a customized and dynamic approach to the selection, screening, planning, and for the conduct of surgery for these patients.MethodsThe current literature and various international society guidelines were reviewed and a set of recommendations were drafted. These were circulated to the Governors of the Endoscopic and Laparoscopic Surgeons of Asia (ELSA) for expert comments and discussion. The results of these were compiled and are presented in this paper.ResultsThe recommendations include guidance for selection and screening of patients in times of active community spread, limited community spread, during times of sporadic cases or recovery and the transition between phases. Personal protective equipment requirements are also reviewed for each phase as minimum requirements. Capability management for the re-opening of services is also discussed. The choice between open and laparoscopic surgery is patient based, and the relative advantages of laparoscopic surgery with regard to complications, and respiratory recovery after major surgery has to be weighed against the lack of safety data for laparoscopic surgery in COVID-19 positive patients. We provide recommendations on the operating room set up and conduct of general surgery. If laparoscopic surgery is to be performed, we describe circuit modifications to assist in reducing plume generation and aerosolization.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic requires every surgical unit to have clear guidelines to ensure both patient and staff safety. These guidelines may assist in providing guidance to units developing their own protocols. A judicious approach must be adopted as surgical units look to re-open services as the pandemic evolves.

BackgroundNeurobiological feedback in surgical training could translate to better educational outcomes such as measures of learning curve. This work examined the variation in brain activation of medical students when performing laparoscopic tasks before and after a training workshop, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).Methods and proceduresThis single blind randomised controlled trial examined the prefrontal cortex activity (PFCA) differences in two groups of novice medical students during the acquisition of four laparoscopic tasks. Both groups were shown a basic tutorial video, with the “Trained-group” receiving an additional standardised one-to-one training on the tasks. The PFCA was measured pre- and post-intervention using a portable fNIRS device and reported as mean total oxygenated hemoglobin (HbOµm). Primary outcome of the study is the difference in HbOµm between post- and pre-intervention readings for each of the four laparoscopic tasks. The pre- and post-intervention laparoscopic tasks were recorded and assessed by two blinded individual assessors for objective scores of the performance.Results16 Trained and 16 Untrained, right-handed medical students with an equal sex distribution and comparable age distribution were recruited. Trained group had an attenuated left PFCA in the “Precision cutting” (p = 0.007) task compared to the Untrained group. Subgroup analysis by sex revealed attenuation in left PFCA in Trained females compared to Untrained females across two laparoscopic tasks: “Peg transfer” (p = 0.005) and “Precision cutting” (p = 0.003). No significant PFCA attenuation was found in male students who underwent training compared to Untrained males.ConclusionA standardised laparoscopic training workshop promoted greater PFCA attenuation in female medical students compared to males. This suggests that female and male students respond differently to the same instructional approach. Implications include a greater focus on one-to-one surgical training for female students and use of PFCA attenuation as a form of neurobiological feedback in surgical training.

Background Antiplatelets such as aspirin are widely used to reduce thrombotic events in patients with various cardiovascular comorbidities. Continuing aspirin through noncardiac surgery has been shown to reduce risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) but may lead to higher bleeding complications. Inguinal hernia repair is a commonly performed surgical procedure among such patients, but no guideline exists regarding perioperative use of aspirin. Objective We aim to investigate the safety profile of aspirin continuation in the perioperative period in patients undergoing elective primary inguinal hernia repair. Methods All patients who underwent elective primary inguinal hernia repair from 2008 to 2015 and were on aspirin preoperatively were identified. The patients were divided into two groups: those who continued aspirin through the morning of the operation and those who were advised to stop aspirin therapy 3–7 days prior to operation. All patients underwent either open Lichtenstein mesh repair or laparoscopic total extra-peritoneal mesh repair. Outcomes measured include intraoperative blood loss, operative time, bleeding complications, wound site complications and MACE. Results Among 1841 patients who underwent elective primary inguinal hernia mesh repair, 142 (7.7 %) patients were on preoperative aspirin. Fifty-seven patients underwent laparoscopic repair, while 85 underwent open mesh repair. Twenty-seven out of fifty-seven (47.3 %) from the laparoscopic group and 55/85 (64.7 %) from the open group were instructed to stop aspirin ( p  = 0.040). There were no significant differences between those who stopped aspirin and those who continued in terms of intraoperative blood loss and operative timing. Immediate postoperative bleeding complications and follow-up wound complications were also similar between the two groups. Overall, there were no MACE among those who underwent laparoscopic repair. Three MACE were recorded in the open group (2 stopped vs. 1 continued; p  = 0.943). There was no perioperative mortality. Conclusion Continuation of aspirin is safe and should be preferred in patients with higher cardiovascular risk.

Background It has been postulated that increased operator workload during task performance may increase fatigue and surgical errors. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration—Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) is a validated tool for self-assessment for workload. Our study aims to assess the relationship of workload and performance of novices in simulated laparoscopic tasks of different complexity levels before and after training. Methods Forty-seven novices without prior laparoscopic experience were recruited in a trial to investigate whether training improves task performance as well as mental workload. The participants were tested on three standard tasks (ring transfer, precision cutting and intracorporeal suturing) in increasing complexity based on the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) curriculum. Following a period of training and rest, participants were tested again. Test scores were computed from time taken and time penalties for precision errors. Test scores and NASA-TLX scores were recorded pre- and post-training and analysed using paired t tests. One-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyse differences in NASA-TLX scores between the three tasks. Results NASA-TLX score was lowest with ring transfer and highest with intracorporeal suturing. This was statistically significant in both pre-training ( p  < 0.001) and post-training ( p  < 0.001). NASA-TLX scores mirror the changes in test scores for the three tasks. Workload scores decreased significantly after training for all three tasks (ring transfer = 2.93, p  < 0.001, precision cutting = 3.74, p  < 0.001, intracorporeal suturing = 2.98, p  < 0.001). Conclusion NASA-TLX score is an accurate reflection of the complexity of simulated laparoscopic tasks in the FLS curriculum. This also correlates with the relationship of test scores between the three tasks. Simulation training improves both performance score and workload score across the tasks.

Obesity is a major public health concern around the world, including Asia. Bariatric surgery has grown in popularity to combat this rising trend. An e-mail questionnaire survey was sent to all the representative Asia-Pacific Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Society (APMBSS) members of 12 leading Asian countries to provide bariatric surgery data for the last 5 years (2005–2009). The data provided by representative members were discussed at the 6th International APMBSS Congress held at Singapore between 21st and 23rd October 2010. Eleven nations except China responded. Between 2005 and 2009, a total of 6,598 bariatric procedures were performed on 2,445 men and 4,153 women with a mean age of 35.5 years (range, 18–69years) and mean BMI of 44.27 kg/m 2 (range, 31.4–73 kg/m 2 ) by 155 practicing surgeons. Almost all of the operations were performed laparoscopically (99.8%). For combined years 2005–2009, the four most commonly performed procedures were laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB, 35.9%), laparoscopic standard Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB, 24.3%), laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG, 19.5%), and laparoscopic mini gastric bypass (15.4%). Comparing the 5-year trend from 2004 to 2009, the absolute numbers of bariatric surgery procedures in Asia increased from 381 to 2,091, an increase of 5.5 times. LSG increased from 1% to 24.8% and LRYGB from 12% to 27.7%, a relative increase of 24.8 and 2.3 times, whereas LAGB and mini gastric bypass decreased from 44.6% to 35.6% and 41.7% to 6.7%, respectively. The absolute growth rate of bariatric surgery in Asia over the last 5 years was 449%.

An open approach is widely used for the surgical treatment of acute groin hernia, however, in recent decades multiple studies have explored the safety and benefits of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for acute groin hernia. A systematic literature search was performed on the electronic databases and meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan 5.4.1. Our study identified that the MIS for acute groin hernia is associated with significantly lower rate of bowel resection with better outcomes than an open approach. Similarly, superficial surgical site infections (SSI) and length of stay (LOS) were also significantly lower in the MIS group. However, there was no significant difference in the duration of operation, use of prosthesis, overall postoperative morbidity, incidence of seroma, hematoma, deep SSI, and hernia recurrence between the two treatment approaches. MIS for acute groin hernia is associated with better outcomes than the open approach in terms of outcomes like the bowel resection rate, superficial SSI, and LOS. •Increasing number of studies have explored the safety and benefits of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for acute groin hernia.•MIS for acute groin hernia is associated with significantly better intraoperative and postoperative outcomes than open approach.•In stable patients with viable bowel in diagnostic laparoscopy, MIS may result is similar or even better treatment outcomes.

Background Individual studies on men with mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic inguinal hernia who have opted for watchful waiting (WW) vary considerably. Furthermore, long-term data on such patients who cross over to herniorrhaphy is scarce. Methods PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched systematically from inception to 3rd April 2024 for long-term follow-up of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on men with mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic inguinal hernia. Individual participant survival data of cross over rates from WW to herniorrhaphy were extracted, reconstructed and combined. Secondary outcome was reason for cross over to herniorrhaphy. Results Long-term follow-up of three RCTs with 592 participants was included. A total of 344/592 participants crossed over to herniorrhaphy during a median follow up period that ranged from 3.2 to 12.0 years. The median cumulative cross over rate was 54.2% (95% CI 45.5% – 66.3%). The cumulative 1-year, 5-year, and 10- year cross over rates were 28.7% (95% CI 25.2% – 32.5%), 51.5% (95% CI 47.4% – 55.6%), and 70.6% (95% CI 66.2% – 74.9%) respectively. During follow-up, the most frequent reasons for cross over to herniorrhaphy were increased pain 198/344 (57.6%) and incarceration 15/344 (4.4%). Conclusion This study provides valuable long-term data for patient counselling, indicating that while WW is a safe strategy for men with mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic inguinal hernia, symptoms would likely progress eventually, necessitating operative repair.