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Pilot study on objective measurement of abdominal wall strength in patients with ventral incisional hernia

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Abstract

Background

Outcomes after ventral incisional hernia (VIH) repair are measured by recurrence rate and subjective measures. No objective metrics evaluate functional outcomes after abdominal wall reconstruction. This study aimed to develop testing of abdominal wall strength (AWS) that could be validated as a useful metric.

Methods

Data were prospectively collected during 9 months from 35 patients. A total of 10 patients were evaluated before and after VIH repair, for a total of 45 encounters. The patients were tested simultaneously or in succession by two of three examiners. Data were collected for three tests: double leg lowering (DLL), trunk raising (TR), and supine reaching (SR). Raw data were compared and tested for validity, and continuous data were transformed to categorical data. Agreement was measured using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for DLL and using kappa for the ordinal measures.

Results

Simultaneous testing yielded the following interobserver reliability: DLL (0.96 and 0.87), TR (1.00 and 0.95), and SR (0.76). Reproducibility was assessed by consecutive tests, with correlation as follows: DLL (0.81), TR (0.81), and RCH (0.21). Due to poor interobserver reliability for the SR test compared with the DLL and TR tests, the SR test was excluded from calculation of an overall score. Based on raw data distribution from the DLL and TR tests, the DLL data were categorized into 10º increments, allowing construction of a 10-point score. The median AWS score was 5 (interquartile range [IQR], 4–7), and there was agreement within 1 point for 42 of the 45 encounters (93%).

Conclusions

The findings from this study demonstrate that the 10-point AWS score may measure AWS in an accurate and reproducible fashion, with potential for objective description of abdominal wall function of VIH patients. This score may help to identify patients suited for abdominal wall reconstruction while measuring progress after VIH repair. Further longitudinal outcomes studies are needed.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Ms. Barbara J. Williams for her assistance in formatting the figures used in this report.

Disclosures

Michael Parker, Ross F. Goldberg, Maryane M. Dinkins, Horacio J. Asbun, C. Daniel Smith, Susanne Preissler, and Steven P. Bowers have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic Florida, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA

    Michael Parker, Ross F. Goldberg, Horacio J. Asbun, C. Daniel Smith, Susanne Preissler & Steven P. Bowers

  2. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic Florida, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA

    Maryane M. Dinkins

Authors
  1. Michael Parker
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  2. Ross F. Goldberg
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  3. Maryane M. Dinkins
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  4. Horacio J. Asbun
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  5. C. Daniel Smith
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  6. Susanne Preissler
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  7. Steven P. Bowers
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven P. Bowers.

Additional information

Presented at the SAGES 2011 Annual Meeting, March 30–April 2, 2011, San Antonio, TX.

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Parker, M., Goldberg, R.F., Dinkins, M.M. et al. Pilot study on objective measurement of abdominal wall strength in patients with ventral incisional hernia. Surg Endosc 25, 3503–3508 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-011-1744-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-011-1744-8

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