Thirty patients undergoing incisional ventral hernia operation with fascial defect size from 3 to 6 cm will be recruited. Fifteen patients undergo rVHR and fifteen undergo hybrid operation.The main outcome measure is postoperative pain, evaluated with visual analogue scale (VAS: 0-10) preoperatively, at 1-week, at 1-month and at 1-year. Hernia recurrence will be evaluated with ultrasound examination at 1-year and QoL using the generic SF-36 short form questionnaire preoperatively, at 1-month and at 1-year.
Laparoscopic ventral hernia repair (LVHR) may be associated with chronic pain, seroma formation, bulging and failure to restore abdominal wall function. These outcomes are risk factors for hernia recurrence and poor quality of life (QoL). Our study evaluates whether robotic-assisted ventral hernia repair (rVHR) diminish these complications compared to LVHR with primary closure of the defect (hybrid).