Laparoscopic repair reduces incidence of surgical site infections for all ventral hernias.

Background: The role of laparoscopic repair of ventral hernias remains incompletely defined. We hypothesize that laparoscopy, compared to open repair with mesh, decreases surgical site infection (SSI) for all ventral hernia types.

Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were reviewed to identify studies evaluating outcomes of laparoscopic versus open repair with mesh of ventral hernias and divided into groups (primary or incisional).