Objective: To analyse our results of the "Cardiff' (far and near) repair in incisional hernias.
Design: Prospective study.
Setting: University hospital, Varanasi, India.
Subjects: 50 patients who presented with incisional hernias between January 1990 and December 1994.
Intervention: Interrupted far-and-near sutures inserted after excision of the sac. The contents were pushed into the abdomen and the peritoneum sutured with non-absorbable polypropylene (prolene).
Main outcome measures: Early and late morbidity. Six patients developed postoperative complications (wound infection, n=3; flap necrosis, n=2; and wound sinus, n=1). No patient has been lost to follow up and there have been no signs of recurrence after a mean follow up of 52 months.
Conclusion: The meticulous application of this simple surgical technique has low morbidity and is cost effective. We recommend it for small and medium size defects.