XXIII International Congress of the European Hernia Society

Abstract

The summer of 2001 began with a scientific meeting of international importance. The XXIII International Congress of the European Hernia Society was held in Milan 21–23 June, in honor of Prof. Piero Pietri (Fig. 1). The Congress took place at the University of Milan, with Prof. Giampiero Campanelli serving as Congress President and Organizer. The city of Milan welcomed the 800 national and international participants with 3 days of sunny weather. More than 130 invited speakers from all over Europe and America, including the most well known hernia surgeons worldwide, participated in the Congress. The meeting began at 2 p.m. on 21 June, with two opening symposia which preceded the opening ceremony. The first, dedicated to the history of hernia repair, had as President Prof. Nyhus, who introduced the session with a magisterial lecture and featured as Chairmen Prof. Corcione and Prof. Chevrel, President and Secretary General of the European Hernia Society, and had as speakers Heniford, Read, Stoppa, Rutkow, and Troidl. The second opening symposium on ‘‘Economics and Day Surgery in:...’’ featured President Alexandre, Chairmen Fitzgibbons and Mandala, and speakers Fitzgibbons, Greco, Kingsnorth, Parmentier, Rutkow, and Simmermacher. At 6 p.m. the prestigious ‘‘Fanfara dei Carabinieri’’ initiated the opening ceremony with musical that included Italy’s national anthem. Greetings of the dignitaries followed, including the welcoming speech by Prof. Giampiero Campanelli, President of the Congress, and the impressive lecture on embryology and anatomy of the inguinal canal by Prof. Chevrel and Prof. Flament. At the end of the opening ceremony more than 500 guests were taken to the Villa Borromeo in Cassano D’Adda where Prof. Campanelli and Prof. Pietri, Honorary President of the Congress, welcomed the participants with cocktails, jazz music, and a pleasant social dinner. Great expectation accompanied the live surgery sessions on Friday and Saturday morning. The President of the Congress invited some of the main speakers to show the audience their techniques. On Friday morning Ugahary, Kugel, Kukleta, Benchetrit, and Bendavid operated on five patients in the operating rooms of the Milan Policlinico Hospital and explained and discussed their personal techniques with the speakers invited to the debate through a direct connection with the Congress venue. A lunch symposium dedicated to the new ‘‘dual facing meshes’’ followed this session. The different experiences reported by the speakers confirmed that these prostheses are optimal for intraperitoneal treatment of ventral hernias. The scientific program on ‘‘New Techniques’’ started simultaneously in three different rooms at 2.30 p.m. In the Large Auditorium there was great interest in the session on inguinal hernia recurrences, featuring different experiences on Wantz’s technique, on the use of the polytetrafluoroethylene patch, and on the possibility of performing anterior approaches such as Trabucco’s technique even for inguinal recurrences. A protocol also highlighted the importance of surgeon’s ability for a good outcome of any tension free repair and to prevent recurrences. In the following session on day surgery Trabucco explained his technique, and Gilbert the correct way to position PHS prosthesis, also presenting the series of Florida Hernia Institute (only two recurrences in 2761 patients). PHS proved an excellent instrument for inguinal hernia repair and is indicated particularly in difficult cases. PHS and Lichtenstein repair were also by Kingsorth. The conclusions were that PHS is easier to position, entails less early postoperative pain, and allows the patient an earlier return to normal life. Long-term results were similar, but PHS seems to have a lower recurrence rate due to an additional preperitoneal patch. On the other hand, Schumpelick underlined that 97% of Hernia (2002) 6: 153–154 DOI 10.1007/s10029-002-0049-1