Current Status of Hernia Centres Around the Globe

Abstract

Institutions specifically dedicated to treatment of abdominal wall hernias have gained popularity over the last years. This study aimed to determine the current situation of hernia centres worldwide. A web-based search was conducted using the common search engines Google and PubMed. The details recorded were as follows: name of the centre, country, establishment year, administrative structure (hospital affiliated, private practice group, or independent solo practice), whether or not the centre has its own operation room, the number of employed surgeons, preferred anaesthesia type, preferred repair type, laparoscopic technique option, case volume per year, and the number of scientific publications. A total of 182 centres were found in 30 different countries. Eighty-one (44.5 %) centres provide services as part of an affiliation within a general hospital (18 in university hospitals). Only 28 (15.5 %) of the centres have published a paper on abdominal wall hernias indexed by PubMed. The total number of papers in PubMed by 182 centres is 354. We observed that clinical outcomes in hernia centres are not shared globally by publishing them in scientific journals, and whether specific hernia surgeons and centres provide better outcomes in treating abdominal wall hernias, compared to general surgeons who deal with all kinds of surgical procedures, remains unclear.