Information about surgeons' attitudes toward using prophylactic mesh (PM) for parastomal hernia (PSH) prevention is limited.
Purpose: A survey was conducted to assess attitudes/beliefs and surgical practice related to PM use for preventing PSH.
Methods: A cross-sectional email survey was conducted during April 2017 among members (surgeons) of the American Hernia Society, European Hernia Society, and International Hernia Collaboration. Survey items included participant demographic characteristics, knowledge about the incidence of PSH, number of permanent stomas created annually, beliefs/opinions (knowledge/interest) regarding the use of PM, and surgical practices (mesh type and position). Data were collected and tallied using SurveyMonkey. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.
Results: Of the 5445 emails sent, 497 responses were received, 235 (47.3%) from the United States and 197 (39.6%) from Europe. The majority of participants were general surgeons (371, 74.6%); a small percentage were colorectal surgeons (37, 7.4%). Most respondents (353, 71.0%) reported at least 11 years of surgical experience, with 37.3% reporting >20 years' experience. The majority of respondents (340, 68.4%) created <15 ostomies per year, more than half (252, 50.7%) consider the incidence of PSH 30% or below, and 107 (22%) use PM. The most common reason for not using mesh was concern about mesh-related complications (141, 41.5%). When asked about type of mesh, most surgeons (153/245, 62.4%) preferred permanent mesh and an open retromuscular approach (97/278, 34.9%).
Conclusion: Results of the present survey show ongoing ambiguity regarding the use of PM for PSH prevention. Education to increase awareness about the incidence of PSH and well-designed safety and effectiveness studies of preventive strategies are needed to help surgeons optimize PSH prevention strategies.