ArticleHernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery2026
Postoperative outcomes among patients evaluated via telemedicine-based preoperative consultations for small ventral hernias.
Article in Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
purposeDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, digital encounters became a crucial means of maintaining access to care amid restrictions on in-person interactions. As these limitations ease, it is essential to evaluate the outcomes of telehealth-based consultations. Before the pandemic, telehealth was predominantly used in postoperative care for surgical populations. This study examines the safety and efficacy of telehealth-based consultations compared to traditional in-person preoperative evaluations for small ventral hernia repair, contributing to the understanding of how telemedicine can be effectively integrated into surgical practices.
methodsWe utilized a prospectively maintained single-center database from a tertiary referral hospital with a specialized hernia and abdominal wall reconstruction team to compare preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative variables between ventral hernia patients who received telehealth-based (phone or video) consultations and those who had any in-person clinic evaluation.
resultsA total of 187 patients with small (< 4 cm) ventral hernias were evaluated, with 42 (22%) being evaluated entirely through telemedicine-based consultations prior to their surgery. There were comparable post-operative outcomes for patients evaluated entirely virtually preoperative compared to those evaluated with at least one traditional in-person evaluation. In both cohorts, 52% of patients followed up at one-year through our hernia surveillance program. The unanticipated recurrence rates observed were 0% for digital pre-operative patients, and 2.01% for patients evaluated in person pre-operatively (p = 1).
conclusionsBased on the data presented here, virtual preoperative encounters are as safe and effective as traditional in-person evaluations for patients with small ventral hernias.
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