Table 1.

Overview of survey results. The right column shows the means and standard deviations (ranges) of the individual proposals by the participants for refrain from lifting or heavy physical labor after the surgical procedures if they did not rate the given proposal of four/two weeks appropriate. IPOM, intraperitoneal onlay mesh.

Resident	18 (16.1%)
Consultant	102 (83.9%)
Time (years) since
Graduation (resident)	4.3 ± 3.7 (1–15)
Specialization (consultant)	11.3 ± 8.9 (1–40)
Incisional/ventral hernia repair
Sublay—4 weeks		Proposal
Too short	40 (31.5%)	7.0 ± 1.7 (5–12)
Appropriate	70 (55.1%)
Too long	17 (13.4%)	2.3 ± 0.5 (2–3)
IPOM—4 weeks		Proposal
Too short	29 (22.8%)	7.4 ± 1.9 (6–12)
Appropriate	66 (52.0%)
Too long	27 (21.3%)	2.2 ± 0.4 (1–3)
Onlay—4 weeks		Proposal
Too short	47 (37.0%)	7.4 ± 1.9 (6–12)
Appropriate	50 (39.4%)
Too long	7 (5.5%)	1.6 ± 0.7 (1–2)
Complex repair— 4 weeks		Proposal
Too short	60 (47.2%)	7.2 ± 2.3 (5–16)
Appropriate	47 (37.0%)
Too long	9 (7.1%)	2.3 ± 0.4 (2–3)
Groin hernia repair
Lichtenstein – 2 weeks		Proposal
Too short	40 (31.5%)	4.5 ± 1.2 (3–8)
Appropriate	71 (55.9%)
Too long	15 (11.8%)	0.7 ± 0.5 (0–1)
Endoscopic—2 weeks		Proposal
Too short	14 (11.0%)	5.1 ± 3.9 (3–16)
Appropriate	76 (59.8%)
Too long	36 (28.3%)	0.9 ± 0.4 (0–1)
Abdominal surgery
Midline laparotomy—4 weeks		Proposal
Too short	40 (31.5%)	7.0 ± 1.6 (6–12)
Appropriate	72 (56.7%)
Too long	15 (11.8%)	2.1 ± 0.6 (1–3)
Transverse laparotomy—4 weeks		Proposal
Too short	38 (29.9%)	6.6 ± 1.1 (6–10)
Appropriate	67 (52.8%)
Too long	15 (11.8%)	2.3 ± 0.5 (2–3)
Laparoscopy—2 weeks		Proposal
Too short	6 (4.7%)	4.0 ± 0.0 (−)
Appropriate	73 (57.5%)
Too long	46 (36.2%)	1.0 ± 0.4 (0–2)