OBJECTIVETo evaluate the safety and feasibility of radical surgery for giant desmoid in abdominal wall accompanied with the repair of giant myofascial defect using synthetic prosthesis.

METHODSWe analyzed the clinical and follow-up data of 31 patients with giant desmoid in abdominal wall undergoing radical resection and immediate abdominal wall reconstruction with synthetic prosthesis from January 2007 to January 2017 retrospectively. Patients were recruited at the Diagnostic and Therapeutic Center of Hernia and Abdominal Wall Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chinese PLA General Hospital and the Department of General Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital. Operative conditions, morbidity of complication, short- and long-term outcomes were summarized. All the patients underwent radical resection and infiltrated organs or tissues were simultaneously treated. Synthetic prosthesis was used to perform primary-intention reconstruction of giant myofascial defect in anterior or lateral abdominal wall. Bridging repair procedure for incisional hernia was used to perform double border fixation between prosthesis border and myofascial defect border. Placement and fixation of prosthesis followed the idea of "conformal repair", then prosthesis was finally repaired as arch in accordance with original abdominal wall.

RESULTSOf 31 patients, 28 cases were female with mean age of 35.2 (16-58) years and 3 were male with mean age of 42.6 (20-79) years. Six initial cases (19.4%) were diagnosed by preoperative biopsy, and 25 recurrent cases (60.6%) were diagnosed by medical history. The mean minimal diameter of tumors was 18.2 (14-25) cm, and the mean maximal diameter was 45.3 (32-53) cm. All 31 patients underwent radical resection and immediate abdominal wall reconstruction using synthetic prosthesis in bridging fashion successfully, and rapid pathological examination showed that all resection margins were negative. The average operative time was 335 (245-610) min, and the average intra-operative blood loss was 1260 (500-3500) ml. The size of abdominal wall defect after removal of desmoid ranged from 21 cm × 23 cm to 35 cm × 60 cm. The defects in 29 patients were repaired with compound synthetic prosthesis and the defects in 2 patients were repaired with compound prosthesis and polypropylene mesh. Four patients(12.9%) developed postoperative infection, in whom 3 patients had prosthesis infection during 1 month postoperatively, then 1 case recovered with conservative therapy, the other 2 cases were healed after the removal of infected prosthesis at 2 weeks and 3 months postoperatively, respectively; 1 patient had infection of artificial vessel prosthesis and received a second operation to remove the infected artificial vessel. The other 27 patients recovered smoothly and got primary intention wound healing. These 31 patients were followed up for a median of 60.5 (10-121) months with complete data. No marginal recurrence, incisional hernia, and abdominal wall bulge happened. One patient undergoing removal of all anterior and lateral abdominal wall had difficult defecation and urination during the first month after operation, and recovered through practising chest breathing. Ten patients developed fresh desmoids in other body positions postoperatively within 1-3 years, in whom 3 patients died of intestinal obstruction due to rapid neoplasm development and 7 patients survived with tumor receiving conservative therapy. All the 28 survival patients could restore normal life and workand have appropriate sports.

CONCLUSIONRadical resection and immediate reconstruction of giant myofascial defect using synthetic prosthesis for patients with giant desmoid in abdominal wall is safe and effective.