Purpose: To investigate optimal risk factors, including atrophy of the abdominal rectus muscle (ARM) for postoperative parastomal hernia (PH) in patients who underwent end colostomy at left lower quadrant.
Methods: This single-institution retrospective study included 91 patients who underwent end colostomy between April 2004 and December 2015. The surgical and long-term outcomes among patients with or without PH were collected and compared.
Results: Altogether, 22 (24.2%) patients had a PH including 15 (68.2%) patients with a simultaneous incisional hernia. Univariate analysis showed that older patients (71 ± 11.9 vs. 64 ± 12.2 years, p = 0.03) and those with higher body mass index (BMI) (23.8 ± 3.8 vs. 20.9 ± 3.3 kg/m2, p < 0.001) had a statistically significant relation with having PHs. Relative atrophy of left abdominal rectus muscle was more frequently found in patients with PH (ratio of left side/right side; caudal level and medial side: 0.66 vs. 0.92, p < 0.01, caudal level and lateral side: 0.95 vs. 1.03, p = 0.04). Multivariate analysis revealed that BMI > 25 kg/m2 [odds ratio (OR) 9.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.06-39.76, p = 0.003] and atrophy of the left lower medial portion of the abdominal rectus muscle (OR 12.85, 95% CI 2.49-66.39, p = 0.002) were independent risk factors for PHs. Neither the laparoscopic approach nor the extraperitoneal route of the colostomy was proven to correlate with a lower rate of PHs.
Conclusions: High BMI and atrophic change of ARM were significantly associated with PH development. Surgical techniques for prevention of atrophic change of ARM are expected to reduce the incidence of PHs.
Keywords: Abdominal rectus muscle; Colostomy; Muscle atrophy; Parastomal hernia.