A ventral hernia occurs when a bulge or tear that occurs when there weakness in the abdominal wall. This weakness in the abdominal wall is usually due to a previous surgical procedure. Ventral hernia repair is often a simple, outpatient procedure that can be performed in the traditional open procedure or using the laparoscopic approach. But just like any other surgery, there is always the risk of postoperative complications.

One major postoperative complication of ventral hernia repair is surgical wound complications. Postoperative wound complications can be minor, resulting in redness and some drainage, and are typically treated on an outpatient basis. Major wound complications are open wounds and wounds that require antibiotic treatment. Laparoscopic ventral hernia repair has decreased the occurrence o f major wound complications. A study done in 2001 looked at wound complications in 54 patients that underwent ventral hernia repair to determine if laparoscopic surgery decreased wound complications. Eighteen of the patients had the traditional open ventral hernia repair surgery, and the other 36 had laparoscopic ventral hernia repair. Postoperative wound complications (major and minor) occurred in 28% of the patients who had the open ventral hernia repair, while 18% who had laparoscopic surgery did. Just looking at just major wound complications, 22% of the patients who had the traditional open ventral hernia repair suffered from postoperative complication, while it occurred in only 3% of those who had laparoscopic ventral hernia repair. From this study, it appears that laparoscopic surgery significantly decreases major wound complications postoperatively.

Other postoperative complications that can occur are bleeding and injury to the intestines or other abdominal organs. An infection could occur in the mesh, and therefore have to be removed. There is also the risk of the hernia coming back.