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INTRODUCTION: Development of an incisional hernia after abdominal surgery is a common complication following laparotomy. Following recent advancements in laparoscopic and open repair a literature review has demonstrated no difference in the short term outcomes between open and laparoscopic repair, concluding there was no favourable method of repair over the other and that both techniques are appropriate methods of surgical repair. However, long term outcomes in the available literature between these two approaches were not clearly analysed or described. The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness and safety of laparoscopic versus open abdominal incisional hernia repair, and to evaluate the short and long term outcomes in regards to hernia recurrence using meta-analysis of all randomised controlled trials from 2008 to end of 2013. POPULATION: Patients who developed an abdominal hernia or abdominal incisional hernia following a laparotomy. INTERVENTION: Two methods of surgical repair, laparoscopic and open abdominal wall hernia repair. Comparison: To compare between laparoscopic and open repair in abdominal wall incisional hernia. OUTCOME: length of hospital stay, operation time, wound infection and hernia recurrence rate. METHODS: This study is a systematic review on all randomized controlled trials of laparoscopic versus open abdominal wall and incisional hernia repair. Medline, Pubmed, Cochrane library, Cinahl and Embase were the databases interrogated. Inclusion both techniques are safe and credible and the outcomes are very comparable.
Chalabi et al. (Sun,) studied this question.