Predicting your risk of incisional hernia to improve surgical care
Improving surgical outcomes through optimized hernia prediction
This project will build tools that use your health records to give a personalized chance of getting an incisional hernia so surgeons and patients can plan safer abdominal operations.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pennsylvania NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Philadelphia, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11233250 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This work will use hospital electronic health record data and machine learning to predict who is most likely to develop an incisional hernia after abdominal surgery. The team will create easy-to-understand, patient-specific risk scores and explanations that surgeons can use during preoperative planning and informed consent. Those risk scores could guide steps like medical optimization before surgery, choosing different surgical techniques, or using prophylactic mesh. The researchers will test the models across hospitals to make sure the predictions work for many types of patients.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are adults planning or undergoing abdominal surgery who want personalized information about their risk of incisional hernia.
Not a fit: People not having abdominal surgery or those needing immediate emergency operations where preoperative planning is impossible may not benefit from this work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help patients avoid incisional hernias by guiding personalized preoperative planning and surgical decisions.
How similar studies have performed: Prior studies show that electronic health record-based models and machine learning can improve prediction of surgical risks, but broad clinical adoption and proof that these tools reduce hernias are still limited.
Where this research is happening
Philadelphia, United States
- University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Fischer, John Patrick — University of Pennsylvania
- Study coordinator: Fischer, John Patrick
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.