A Novel Hidden Stitching Method for Preventing Complications in Laparoscopic Hernia Repair.

Purpose: Barbed suture provides a rapid and effective method for closure in minimally invasive surgery. However, postoperative complications involving barbed suture have been reported in recent years. The aim of this study is to introduce a novel hidden stitching technique for peritoneal closure in laparoscopic hernia repair.

Method: This study retrospectively analyzed the data of patients with laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal patch (TAPP). In the hidden stitch (HS) group, the barbed suture was hidden on the dorsal side of the peritoneum and two stitches were returned in the opposite direction after the suture reached the end point. In the non-hidden stitch (NHS) group, the barbed sutured was exposed in the peritoneal cavity with a tail stump of approximately 10 mm preserved to prevent the peritoneal sutures from loosening.

Results: Twenty-seven patients in the HS group were compared with 53 in the NHS group. There were no differences in age, body mass index, surgical bleeding, or length of hospital stay between the two groups. The peritoneal defect closure time was slightly longer (3 min) in the HS group, but the overall operation time was not significantly extended. There were 8 cases of postoperative complications (P = .035) including 4 cases of bowel obstruction due to the tail of the barbed thread penetrating the small intestine mesenteric and two cases of seroma. There were no postoperative complications in the HS group.

Conclusions: The hidden stitch method is a safe and feasible peritoneal closure technique that may reduce postoperative complications caused by barbed suture in laparoscopic hernia repair.