Outcomes of operative versus non-operative interventions on rectus abdominis diastasis: a combination of a retrospective analysis and a systematic review

Background There is no current consensus on the treatment of Rectus abdominis diastasis (RAD). This study aimed to assess the recurrence rates and adverse events after operative or non-operative intervention.Methods We performed a retrospective study and a systematic review. Patients with a diagnosis of RAD who underwent the mesh placement procedure were eligible. Data were collected from The Research Patient Data Registry. Then, a systematic literature search of Pubmed, Embase, and The Cochrane Library databases was performed. A modified Downs and Black checklist for randomized and non-randomized studies of healthcare interventions (DB) was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the studies.Results Data of 82 patients was collected. The 5-year cumulative incidence of recurrence of abdominal hernia was high (females 37.0% vs males 43.4%, P = 0.557). Of 3908 citations, 27 studies describing 2,372 patients were included into the systematic review. In non-operative group, seven studies (25.93%) with a total of 603 subjects reported no patient relapsed after a follow-up of 12 months; a 40% recurrence rate was reported after a follow-up of 5 years in one study, the adverse events associated with operation mainly included seroma (5.13%), a sensibility disorder of the abdominal skin (2.26%), and minor scarring (1.56%). Muscle strength training, such as training of the pelvic floor muscles, abdominal muscles, rectus abdominis, internal/external oblique, or transverse abdominal muscles, was performed in all included non-surgery studies, neither adverse events nor recurrence was reported.Conclusion Operative intervention may be effective at restoring the functions of the rectus muscles and at improving the stability of abdominal wall in the short-term, while non-operative intervention has a limited effect, especially for those RAD combined with hernia.