Closing a Big Hernia

Sometimes, after gastric bypass and other abdominal procedures, a large hernia can result.  This is an uncomfortable bulge in the abdomen around the previous incision.  Most methods of fixing the hernia use prosthetic (plastic) mesh of some kind.  Although this is OK, the mesh can sometimes get infected, extrude, or become palpable or uncomfortable.  It can also move or tear away from the native abdominal wall muscle, resulting in a recurrent hernia.  So, in about 1990, some plastic surgeons devised a way to close the hernia by expanding the native abdominal wall - which contains 3 muscle layers.  One of the muscle components is separated from the deeper two, which are left intact.  I've adapted this procedure a bit and have developed a special technique for use in gastric bypass hernias.  Many patients of mine have been asking how this works, so I filmed a recent case, and am putting some video clips on the blog to illustrate.

Download CompSepForWeb.wmv