Clinical Research Studies

The purpose of this research study is to look at long term outcomes of robotic abdominal wall reconstruction for abdominal wall hernias. In comparing robotic surgery for abdominal wall reconstruction to traditional open surgery, we know that in the short term patients experience fewer wound complications, a shorter hospital stay, and that there is a decreased overall cost to the health care system with the robotic approach. Although there is ample data with regard to the long term outcomes of open abdominal wall reconstruction, the robotic approach is newer and there are no studies looking at long term outcomes of robotic techniques. This study will examine the long term benefits of robotic surgery and will involve patients who have had surgery at least 2 years ago. The research team will focus on the incidence of hernia recurrence as well as quality of life after robotic abdominal wall reconstruction. We speculate that the long term results of robotic surgery will be superior to the traditional open techniques.