Behind the knife

Minimally invasive transversus abdominis release (TAR) has been increasingly utilized by surgeons. This approach to abdominal wall reconstruction can improve short term morbidity and length of hospital stay for select patients. This video reviews the technical aspects to the procedure. In particular, this video focuses on "bottoms-up" and "top down" TAR dissection. Further principles such as the sub-diaphragmatic dissection, which is important in hernias abutting the costal margin and xiphoid process are highlighted.