No abstract

Background:Repair of large incisional hernias remains a surgical and costly challenge. Temporary paralysis of the lateral abdominal wall muscles with topical administration of botulinum toxin A (BTA) is a new therapeutic concept, which may obviate the need for component separation technique (CST) for repair of large incisional hernias. Current literature on the administration of BTA as adjunct to surgical repair of abdominal incisional hernias was investigated.Methods:The electronic databases PubMed and Embase were searched for eligible studies. Two independent investigators evaluated the literature. Data were sought regarding primary fascial closure with and without CST, safety, hernia recurrence, method of application, and preoperative radiological imaging.Results:Six cohort studies including a total of 133 patients receiving BTA were identified. No randomized or case–control studies were found. In total, 83.5% of the patients achieved primary fascial closure. Supplemental CST was necessary in 24.1% of the patients. Two patients developed hernia recurrence during follow-up. No postoperative complications or adverse events were considered related to the administration of BTA, except for impairment of postoperative coughing and sneezing. Additionally, radiological imaging showed that BTA increased the length of lateral abdominal muscles before surgery.Conclusions:Preoperative administration of BTA increases muscle length and may facilitate primary fascial closure. Optimal administration is at least 2 weeks before repair, whereas the optimal dose of BTA remains to be defined. Carefully designed randomized controlled trials are warranted to identify patients who would benefit from BTA and to eliminate the confounding effect of CST.

Variation in ejaculatory abstinence time and its influence on semen quality and clinical reproductive outcomes is a growing concern among clinicians and researchers. The WHO (World Health Organization) recommends 2–7 days of abstinence time prior to semen collection for diagnostic purposes; however, the evidence that such an abstinence period leads to better pregnancy outcomes remains unclear. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate short and long ejaculatory abstinence time in association with pregnancy rate, live birth rate and DNA fragmentation, in order to make a recommendation on an ideal timeframe for ejaculatory abstinence. This review is conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines and registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022379039). The electronic databases PubMed, Embase and Cochrane were searched for eligible studies. The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network was used for the assessment of the risk of bias across the included studies. Twenty-four studies were included in this systematic review. The included studies confirm that a shorter abstinence time is associated with improved pregnancy rates and live birth rates following assisted reproductive technology compared with longer ejaculatory abstinence times at different cut-off points. Similarly, a lower DNA fragmentation index was reported in semen analyses collected from short abstinence times compared with long abstinence times. However, due to the heterogeneity of the included studies, it is not possible to extract an ideal time of ejaculatory abstinence, but all outcomes improved with shorter ejaculatory abstinence times. This systematic review confirms that short ejaculatory abstinence times, less than those recommended by the WHO for diagnostic purposes, are associated with higher pregnancy and live birth rates and improved DNA fragmentation, when compared to long ejaculatory abstinence times.

methods were comparable in detecting tumor extension and equally good at detecting lymph node metastases and distant metastases. The radiologists experienced more certainty in analysing malignant lesions with the additional information of PET, however, the lesions were more easily defined on MRI.