Despite the technological breakthroughs and discover of abdominal meshes, ventral hernia has always been challenging in therapeutic strategies by the surgeons, with high recurrence rates. The use of botulinum toxin A (BTA) for the management of ventral and incisional hernia (IH) poses an increasingly interesting practice, especially for the intimidating complex one. The preoperative administration of the toxin to the lateral abdominal muscles by use of Ultra-Sound guidance causes muscle paralysis and a reduction of intraabdominal pressure. Thus, the hernia defect can be primarily closed without tension, if the length of the defect is up to 10 cm. In larger hernia, this method can be combined with component separation techniques or the use of a mesh. The mesh placement seems to be better by laparoscopy. The site of injection and the dosage of BTA are still under discussion amongst authors. The optimal administration is proposed by some authors to be at least 2 weeks before repair. There is also an analgesic effect of BTA to the patients that underwent hernia reconstruction. Ultimately, the role of BTA in the reconstruction of ventral hernia seems to be promising, but there is a necessity for several randomized clinical trials.
展开▼
