VHWG Grade (Ventral Hernia SSO Risk)
Ventral Hernia Working Group (VHWG) grade for surgical-site-occurrence risk in ventral hernia repair (Breuing 2010).
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- Previous wound infection, a stoma, or GI-tract violation
- Yes
Result: VHWG Grade 3 (potentially contaminated).
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- Grades
- most severe present sets it: 4 infected (mesh infection / septic dehiscence); 3 potentially contaminated (prior wound infection, stoma, GI violation); 2 comorbid; 1 low risk.
- Use
- a higher grade means higher surgical-site-occurrence risk and informs repair technique and mesh choice. The modified VHWG (Kanters 2012) is a 3-grade variant.
What you enter
- Infected mesh or septic dehiscence (Grade 4)
- Previous wound infection, a stoma, or GI-tract violation (Grade 3)
- Smoking, obesity, diabetes, immunosuppression, or COPD (Grade 2)
How this is calculated
Ventral Hernia Working Group; Breuing K, Butler CE, Ferzoco S, et al. Incisional ventral hernias: review of the literature and recommendations regarding the grading and technique of repair. Surgery. 2010;148(3):544-558. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.