Purpose
Operative approach, including minimally invasive surgery (MIS) in the repair of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), is variable among institutions. The short-term recurrent hernia rate is not well described. We evaluated the in-hospital recurrence rate of MIS repairs of infants with CDH from the Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Registry (CDHR).
Methods
Prospectively collected data from CDH infants were analyzed from the CDHR from January 1995 to January 2010. Recurrent hernia was defined as reoperations during initial hospitalization. Operative approaches included abdominal, thoracic, laparoscopic, and thoracoscopic techniques.
Results
5,480 infants with CDH were identified of which 4,516 (82.4%) were repaired. Operative data was available in 4,390 infants. One hundred fifty-one infants (3.4%) underwent MIS repairs with twelve reported recurrences (7.9%) compared to one hundred fourteen for open techniques (2.7%, p < 0.05). MIS demonstrated a significant increased odds for recurrence (OR 3.59, 95% CI:1.92 – 6.71) after adjusting for gestational age, birth weight, patch repair, and ECMO.
Conclusion
Minimally invasive techniques appear to have a significant higher recurrent hernia rate with thoracoscopy being the highest. Although adjusted for patch repair, other factors with regards to disease severity may contribute to differences in outcomes among centers. This study is limited to short-term recurrence during initial hospitalization.