A CLINICAL STUDY ON VENTRAL HERNIAS AND ITS MANAGEMENT AT A TERTIARY CARE CENTER.

Introduction: Any abnormal protrusion of the viscus or a portion of it through a weak spot in the anterior abdominal wall other than the femoral and inguinal regions is referred to as a ventral hernia. A hernia is also defined as an abnormal exit of tissue or an organ, such as the bowel, through the cavity wall where it usually resides. Hernias are divided into two categories depending on their visibility-a) External hernias include those visible from the outside, such as those in the inguinal, epigastric, femoral, and incisional hernias. b) Internal hernia that is not visible from the outside and can exist between two adjacent cavities, such as the abdomen and thorax, or which can herniate into a sub-compartment of a pre-existing cavity, such as a diaphragmatic hernia or a hiatus hernia. Materials and methods: A hospital based-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 2 years i.e., from 1st December' 2020 to 30th November' 2022 in the Department of General Surgery at Siddhartha Medical College and General Hospital, Vijayawada. During the study period of 24 months, about ninety four (94) patients with ventral hernias have attended the OPD of Department of Surgery. Among the 94 ventral hernia patients about 63 patients who were in accordance with inclusion criteria were considered. A purposive sampling method was used to select ventral hernia Patients who were between 18-70 years of age. Results: The distribution of patients based on clinical types of ventral hernia, majority 49.2 p.c (31) of the patients were with paraumbilical hernia followed by epigastric hernia among 31.7 p.c (20) of the patients and 19 p.c (12) of the patients were with umbilical hernia respectively. majority 47.6 p.c (30) of the patients had only swelling followed by swelling with pain among 41.3 p.c (26) of the patients, 7.9 p.c (5) of the patients had swelling with irreducibility and 3.2 p.c (2) of the patients had swelling with intestinal obstruction. Conclusion: The incidence of ventral hernias was more among females when compared to males. The operative procedure conducted through laparoscopy for ventral hernia repair gave more promising results than open ventral hernia repair in terms of decreased postoperative pain, complications, duration of hospital stay, and return to normal activity duration. In terms of costeffectiveness, open hernia repair was more beneficial when compared to laparoscopic hernia repair. Still, due to government initiatives towards helping the poor through medical & surgical expenses, laparoscopic hernia repair was more advisable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]