PROSTHESIS AND EMERGENCY HERNIA SURGERY

Use of prostheses in emergency surgery is a controversial issue dire t o the risk of infection. We report our experience with a series of 31 strangled hernias treated in emergency situations with a polypropylene (n = 29) or a vinyl (n = 2) sheath placed in a pre-peritoneal or retr o-muscular position. There were three small bowel resections and 13 re sections of the omentum for necrosis. There were no cases of infectiou s complications during the post-operative period. There were no recurr ent hernias during the follow-up. The absence of any supplementary mor bidity after emergency prosthesis is in agreement with the data in the literature. These results suggest that a prosthesis can be proposed f or strangled hernias when the weakness of the parietal wall would comp romise a conventional procedure. Excluded are cases with severe infect ion, including peritonitis by gangrenous perforation of an incarcerate d loop and associated colonic resections.