Large incisional hernia in the elderly: which kind of treatment?

Incisional hernia is one of the commonest long-term complications of open abdominal surgery. Especially in old patients (over 70 years), the incisional hernias represent an invalidating pathology whose treatment, for the high incidence of associated respiratory and cardiovascular disease, offers difficulties related to the preoperative and postoperative management as well as to the surgical treatment. This paper reports the Author's experience about the surgical treatment of large incisional hernia (10 cm) with open prosthetic mesh repair in geriatric patients.