Robotic Versus Laparoscopic Ventral Hernia Repair : One-year Results From a Prospective, Multicenter, Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial

Ventral hernia repair (VHR) lacks standardization of care and exhibits variation in delivery. Complications of VHR, notably recurrence and infection, increase costs. Efforts at obtaining federal funding for VHR research are frequently unsuccessful, in part due to misperceptions that VHR is not a clinical challenge and has minimal impact on healthcare resources. We analyzed national trends for VHR performance and associated costs to demonstrate potential savings resulting from an improvement in outcomes.