Decreasing Incisional Hernia by Teaching 4:1 Suture to Wound Length Ratio Early in Surgical Education

Incisional hernia formation has become a major burden for our healthcare system. One factor that has been shown to reduce incisional hernia rates that can be impacted on by the surgeon is the ability to achieve a 4:1 suture to wound length ratio. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether a fo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of surgical education 2021-11, Vol.78 (6), p.e169-e173
Main Authors: Beeson, Seth, Faulkner, Justin, Acquista, Elizabeth, Hope, William
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Hernia
Humans
Incisional
Incisional Hernia - etiology
Incisional Hernia - prevention & control
Incisional Hernia - surgery
Laparotomy - methods
Prevention
Surgeons
Suture Techniques
Suture to Wound length ratio
Sutures - adverse effects
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Incisional hernia formation has become a major burden for our healthcare system. One factor that has been shown to reduce incisional hernia rates that can be impacted on by the surgeon is the ability to achieve a 4:1 suture to wound length ratio. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether a focused educational program for surgical residents can help improve laparotomy closures and be successful in achieving 4:1 suture to wound length ratios. Following Institutional Review Board approval, consecutive abdominal wall closures were reviewed from December 2013 to July 2016. S:W length ratios were calculated in all cases and after 100 cases a formal audit of success and risk factors for not achieving a 4:1 ratio was performed followed by a formal resident education on laparotomy closure. The ability to achieve a 4:1 ratio for the first 100 cases following resident education was then compared to the 100 patients preceding the education with a p-value of
ISSN:1931-7204
1878-7452
DOI:10.1016/j.jsurg.2021.09.008