Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Nov 27, 2015; 7(11): 293-305
Published online Nov 27, 2015. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v7.i11.293
Evolution and advances in laparoscopic ventral and incisional hernia repair
Alan L Vorst, Christodoulos Kaoutzanis, Alfredo M Carbonell, Michael G Franz
Alan L Vorst, Christodoulos Kaoutzanis, Michael G Franz, Department of Surgery, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, Ann Arbor, MI 48106, United States
Alfredo M Carbonell, Department of Surgery, Greenville Health System, University of South Carolina School of Medicine - Greenville, Greenville, SC 29605, United States
Author contributions: Vorst AL was the primary author of the manuscript; Kaoutzanis C designed the review and assisted with the writing of the manuscript; Carbonell AM and Franz MG provided expert opinion.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Dr. Carbonell is a consultant for Maquet Medical, and W.L. Gore and Associates, as well as speaker for Intuitive Surgical. None of the other authors has any relevant financial relationships to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Christodoulos Kaoutzanis, MD, Department of Surgery, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, 5333 McAuley Drive, Reichert Health Building, Suite R-2111, Ann Arbor, MI 48106, United States. ckaoutzanis@gmail.com
Telephone: +1-734-8340597 Fax: +1-734-7122809
Received: April 29, 2015
Peer-review started: April 29, 2015
First decision: June 24, 2015
Revised: September 12, 2015
Accepted: October 12, 2015
Article in press: October 13, 2015
Published online: November 27, 2015
Processing time: 212 Days and 10.1 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: This manuscript reviews the evolution and advances of laparoscopic ventral and incisional hernia repair. We discuss preoperative considerations, intraoperative factors including the type of mesh in conjunction with placement and fixation of the mesh, as well as postoperative issues such as complications, recurrence and quality of life. New evolving techniques such as minimally invasive components separation and robotic surgery are reviewed. In addition, some of the future directions of this exciting and rapidly developing field are explored. We hope you find this review helpful in summarizing the past advances in hopes that it may illuminate new avenues of research in minimally invasive ventral and incisional hernia repair.