Menu
Learn more about the EHS Chapters – our collaboration partners across Europe.
The European Hernia Society (EHS) is dedicated to fostering strong collaboration among organisations all over Europe, with a focus on enhancing hernia patients’ quality of life. Rooted in the core value of bringing diverse organisations together, the majority of EHS initiatives involve cooperation with surgeons across Europe, European surgery organisations, and international partners.Â
At present, EHS collaborates with 26 non-profit organisations across Europe, offering a broad and locally grounded perspective on hernia surgery in the region.Â
EHS partner organisations fall into three categories:Â
Different characteristics and benefits apply to each partner category. The widest-ranging level of collaboration exists with the EHS Chapters, through the annual EHS Chapter’s Board meeting. (see list below). The close relationship between the EHS and the EHS Chapters is a key principle of vital importance to the EHS, allowing the flow of knowledge between the EHS and its Chapters, to the benefit of patients across Europe.
Ă–sterreichische Herniengesellschaft (Ă–HG)
2021
Members:Â 80
PD Dr. Gernot Köhler
Dr. Rudolf Schrittwieser (past president), PD Dr. Franz Mayer (secretary), Prof. Dr. René Fortelny (honorary member), Dr. Nikolaus Hartig (Vice president)
Best possible care for patients with hernias, scientific and educational activities, conference organization.
Austrian Hernie Days in Salzburg 21-22.03.2024Â
a. Principal
The Section aims to improve the quality of the surgery of the entire abdominal wall in Belgium. The Section aims to represent surgeons from Belgium with a specific interest in abdominal wall surgery.
Members of the Board will be delegated to establish and maintain relations with Belgian, European or other national and international organisations, societies, and councils.
b. Scientific objectives.
The scientific objectives of the Section are to improve knowledge of abdominal wall surgery in Belgium.
Scientific meetings and workshops will be organised either for all members or for working groups. Scientific meetings of the Section will be organised in the context of the scientific program of the Belgian Royal Society for Surgery, including the Belgian Week of Surgery.
The Section will organise and support clinical or experimental studies in the field of abdominal wall surgery, following the rules specified in the appendix.
All scientific projects organised in the name of the Section and their results must be submitted to and approved by the scientific committee, before national or international presentation or publication.
Any Ordinary member can submit a scientific project to the board of the Section. The rules in the appendix have to be respected, as well as for publications or presentations of a study project in name of the Section.
c. Extra-scientific objectives
Improved quality of abdominal wall surgery will be based on increasing knowledge and skills as well as on continuous survey and audit of training and practice.
The Section will make efforts to improve training in abdominal wall surgery and to develop evidence-based guidelines.
The Section will contribute to the survey (audit) of abdominal wall surgery in Belgium. These efforts will be performed in close collaboration with all councils, boards, and governmental organisations already involved or having information.
Â
Yearly Belgian Hernia Day
Yearly Hernia Cadaver Labs for trainees
Scientific research and studies (Unite study NCT04437043; Belgian Hernia Database,…)
Our aim is to promote safe, effective and high quality hernia surgery throughout the U.K, with a new UK Hernia registry to be launched in 2023.
Promote hernia as a specialty in the UK, provide grants for young enterprise, encourage research in the field of hernia surgery, contribute to science and education through collaboration with EHS and wider Hernia fraternity.
Â
CapĂtulo Parede Abdominal – GREPA – Sociedade Portuguesa de Cirurgia
1977
Members:Â 1200
CapĂtulo Parede Abdominal – GREPA – Coordinator- Carlos MagalhĂŁes – Porto – Filipe Guerra – Faro – JĂşlio Marques – Viseu – Eva Barbosa – Matosinhos – Ana AndrĂ© – SetĂşbal
CapĂtulo Parede Abdominal – GREPA is a chapter that is related with the board of Sociedade Portugesa de Cirurgia, in Portugal.
Portuguese Surgery Society includes almost all general surgeons in Portugal and is responsible for the development of General Surgery , promoting several activities all over the year.
The National Chapter of Abdominal Wall (GREPA – Grupo Estudos Parede Abdominal) is promoting the best practices in abdominal wall surgery.
Our main activities:
French Hernia Society – Chapitre Français de l’EHS-GREPA
2021
Members: 200
Our main activities:
Czech Hernia Society / Česká Herniologická Společnost
Members:Â 79 NM + 4 EHS
The Czech Hernia Society was established by a group of surgeons, who are interested in herniology and abdominal wall surgery. The main goal is to present the hernia surgery as a specialized brach of general surgery. The society collects suregons, who would like to treat and operate hernias and abdominal wall deefects according to the actual knowledge and guidelines published by the EHS.
The CHS started the Hernia Basic project as a school project, mostly for young surgeons. The main goal is to teach residents the advanced anatomy and physiology of abdominal wall and the standardized techniques, how to operate umbilical, inguinal and mid-line hernias.
Our main activities:
The main activities of The Czech Hernia Society are now the preparations for the 6th Czech Hernia Conference, whitch will be associated with next Hernia Basic course.
The society also supports several single-topic workshops regarding hernia surgery.
The organizers of Hernia Basic are preparing advanced course, concerning advanced techniques and treatment of recurent, giant and complicated hernias.
The society participates on preparations of the 2023 EHS annual meeting that will be held in Prague.
Danish Hernia Database – Dansk Herniedatabase
1998
Members:Â 100
Board: Frederik Helgstrand, Nadia Henriksen, Thorbjørn Sommer, Jacob Rosenberg, Kristoffer Andresen, Allan Dorfeldt, Mette Willaume, Marianne Krogsgaard, Nina Wensel, Marie Kirk Christensen, Nellie Zinther
Delegate contact: mette.willaume@gmail.com & freh@regionsjaelland.dkÂ
Our main activities: Monitor and secure complete national data in the Danish Hernia Database, perform and publish research based on the data from the Database, provide feedback to Danish surgeons regarding quality of hernia surgery in Denmark, monitor new trends and techniques and compare results with previous ones.
2017
Members: 99
Dr Marijn Poelman, MD, PhD FEBS AWS
Dr Theo Aufenacker, MD, PhD FEBS AWS
Dr Tammo de Vries Reilingh, MD, PhD FEBS AWS
Prof.dr. Marja Boermeester, MD, PhD
Dr Bob Bloemendaal, MD, PhD
Dr Joris Harlar, MD, PhD
Dr Willem Zwaans, MD, PhD
Dr Sebastiaan Steensel, MD, PhD
Education and improvement of hernia care.
Our main activities:
TAR course 18 January 2024
(Inguinal) hernia registry.
Education: inguinal and abdominal wall cadaver courses.
Finnish Hernia Society – Suomen Herniayhdistys
Members: 300
2017
Anu Välikangas (secretary), Tom Scheinin, Tanja Hulmi, Matti Hämäläinen, Henrik Husu, Anne MattilaÂ
Delegate contact: jaana.vironen@hus.fi, anu.valikangas@pshp.fi
To improve hernia surgery in Finland trough learning and research
Our main activities:
Hellenic Hernia Association
Members:Â 124
To improve on the quality of care of patients with a hernia in Greece through education, research and policy work
Our main activities:
Hellenic Hernia Days 2024 23-25 Febrouary 2024
German Hernia Society – Deutsche Herniengesellschaft
2001
Members:Â 1043 (*01.03.2020)
Delegate contact: juttaschulz@t-online.de
The German Hernia Society is a society for interested and dedicated hernia surgeons.                   Â
Main Goal is a better treatment of our patients with :Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
The German Hernia Society is part of an international network.
Our main activities:
Hungarian Work Group for Abdominal Wall Surgery
2005
Members:Â
Our main activities:
Italian Society of Hernia and Abdominal Wall Surgery
Delegate contact: info@cecongressi.it
Our main activities:
AsociaĂłn Española de Cirujanos – National Spanish Association of Surgenos
1936
Contribute to the progress of surgery in all its aspects, promoting the training, development and professional improvement of surgeons, seeking the best quality in patient care and promoting teaching and research.
Our main activities:
Madrid 2025
To promote teaching and research in abdominal wall surgery. Registry of abdominal wall surgery. Courses for residentes. National congress
Promotion and maintenance of the Spanish Register of Abdominal Wall Surgery (EVEREG) (Incisional, inguinal, prevention). Patient centred research.
Section of Herniology of Polish Surgical Assotiation – Sekcja Przepuklin Towarzystwa ChirurgĂłwPolskich
1998
Members:Â 100
Our main activities:
December 2024 (Baltic Hernia Days, Gdansk, Poland)
Serbian Hernia Society
2001
Members:Â
Our main activities:
Herniološko Združenje Slovenije
2004
Members:Â 70
Promoting high Quality hernia Surgery in Slovenia
Our main activities:
Kongress preparation (Guest Filip Muysoms)
Swedish Association of Innovative Surgical Technology
2004
Members:Â Members of the Swedish Association for Innovative Surgical Technology: 263 ; EHS Members: 16
The Swedish Association for Innovative Surgical Technology supports research, education and development in the fields of endoscopic surgery and hernia surgery, with the following goals:
Our main activities:
The Swedish Association for Innovative Surgical Technology is a national society that promotes issues on education, research and development in relation to abdominal wall surgery and endoscopic techniques. The Swedish National Chapter of the European Hernia Society is organised under The Swedish Association for Innovative Surgical Technology.
The Swedish Association for Innovative Surgical Technology supports the Swedish Hernia Register, which was started in 1994 and has a national coverage since more than twenty years. A national register for ventral hernia repairs is also under development.
The Swedish Association for Innovative Surgical Technology organises courses in hernia surgery.
National guidelines on the management of hernias and diastasis of the rectus abdominal muscles have been published by the Swedish Association for Innovative Surgical Technology
Schweizerische Arbeitsgruppe FĂĽr Hernienchirurgie – Swiss Association for Hernia Surgery
2018
Members:Â 58
Dr. med. Jan F. Kukleta, Dr. med. Rolf Hunkeler, Dr. med. Walter Brunner, Prof. Dr. med. Ulrich Dietz, Dr. med. Jonathan Douissard, Dr. med. Michaela Ramser, Prof. Dr. med. Philipp Kirchhoff, PD Dr. med. Henry Hoffmann, Dr. med. Andrea Donadini, Dr. med. Christian Helbling, Dr. med. Diego de Lorenzi, Dr. med. Johanna Willburger, Dr. med. Stephanie Taha-Melitz
The Swiss Association for Hernia Surgery is a society for interested and dedicated hernia surgeons.
Main Goal is a better treatment of our patients with:
The Swiss Association for Hernia Surgery is part of an international network.
TĂĽrk Fıtık DerneÄźi – Turkish Hernia Society
Members: 140
Prof. Nuri Gönüllü, MD; Prof. Zafer Malazgirt, MD; Prof. Metin Ertem, MD; Hakan Gök, MD
Dr. Hakan Gök – fitikdernegi@gmail.comÂ
To follow and learn all advancements in abdominal wall pathologies and to enhance solidarity and knowledge exchange among colleagues, aiming to establish a high surgical standard in hernia surgery nationwide.
TBA for 2025
We just performed our 9th National Congress. We plan 3 hernia school projects in 2024.
Ukranian Hernia Society
2003
Members: 460
Our aim is to promote safe, effective and high quality hernia surgery throughout the Ukraine.
Our main activities:
c/o CAP Partner
Nordre Fasanvej 113, 1.
2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark
T: +45 70 20 03 05
info@europeanherniasociety.eu
Explore our Knowledge Library with videos and templates.