Impact of COVID-19 on clinical outcomes of robotic inguinal hernia repair

• Published in: Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery Vol. 27; no. 5; pp. 1109 - 1113
• Main Authors: Kudsi, O. Y., Kaoukabani, G., Friedman, A., Bahadir, J., Bou-Ayash, N., Vallar, K., Gokcal, F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris Springer Paris 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abdominal Surgery; Clinical outcomes; Comorbidity; COVID-19; Demography; Hernia; Hernias; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original; Original Article; Pandemics; Patients; Polypropylene; COVID-19; Robotic; Outcomes; Inguinal hernia repair
• ISSN: 1248-9204; 1265-4906; 1248-9204
• DOI: 10.1007/s10029-023-02746-7

Purpose To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the clinical impact of the clinical outcomes of robotic inguinal hernia repair. Methods Patients who underwent RIHR 2 years before and after March 10, 2020, were included in this retrospective study and assigned accordingly to the pre- or post-COVID group. Pre-, intra-, and postoperative variables including patients’ demographics, hernia characteristics, complications, and hernia recurrence rates were compared between groups. Results 183 (94.5% male) and 141 (96.4% male) patients were assigned to the pre- and post-COVID groups, respectively. Patient demographics and medical comorbidities did not differ between groups. Operative time was approximately 40 min longer in the post-COVID group ( p  < 0.001) with higher rates of bilateral IHR (pre-COVID: 30.1% vs. post-COVID: 46.4%, p  = 0.003). Mesh material differed between groups with predominance of polyester mesh in the pre-COVID group vs. polypropylene in the post-COVID one. Median hospital length of stay (LOS) was 0 days in both groups, and same-day discharge rates were 93.4% pre-pandemic and 92.8% post-pandemic ( p  = 0.09). There were no pulmonary complications recorded in either group or no cases of COVID-19 detected within two weeks postoperatively in the post-COVID group. Seromas were more frequent in the post-COVID group (pre-COVID: 2 vs. post-COVID: 8, p  = 0.018) and no hernia recurrences were recorded. Conclusion This is the first study to describe the impact of COVID-19 on RIHR. Clinical outcomes and hernia-specific complications were not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.