Umbilical Defunctioning Ileostomy for Rectal Cancer Results in Reduced Risk for Incisional Hernia.

Background/aim: Umbilical defunctioning ileostomy (UDI) spares one incision, which may reduce the overall incidence of incisional hernia. Our aim was to evaluate the occurrence and risk factors of incisional hernias between UDI and conventional defunctioning ileostomy (CDI) after ileostomy closure.

Patients And Methods: Incidence of incisional hernia after ileostomy closure was compared between UDI (n=51) and CDI (n=86) groups. Risk factors for incisional hernia were also considered through a retrospective analysis.

Results: The overall incidence of incisional hernia was 5.9% in the UDI group, which was significantly lower than the 22.1% (7.0% at the midline incision and 15.1% at the stoma site) in the CDI group (p=0.012). Multivariate analysis showed higher BMI (p=0.035) and CDI (p=0.031) as risk factors for developing incisional hernias overall.

Conclusion: UDI results in fewer incisional hernias than CDI and seems to be superior to CDI from the standpoint of overall incidence of incisional hernias.