On October 29th in Sofia, the 3rd EHS Monothematic Conference on Inguinal Hernia – Old and New Challenges was held, organised by the newly re-established Bulgarian Hernia Society with logistical support from the Bulgarian Society of Coloproctology.
The conference attracted more than 80 participants and faculty from most of the Balkan countries – Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Slovenia – and the rest of Europe, including Italy, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, and Belgium. The focus was on presenting and discussing all aspects of groin hernia management, a critical part of daily surgical practice.
The event was officially opened by the General Secretary of EHS, Andrew de Beaux (UK), followed by Cesare Stabilini’s (Italy) lecture on updates to the EHS guidelines. Lectures on various techniques, both open and endoscopic, were presented by Umberto Bracale (Italy), René H. Fortelny (Austria), Melih Paksoy (Turkey), Frederik Berrevoet (Belgium), and Jurij Gorjanc (Austria/Slovenia). Konstantinos Marios Kokkalis (Greece) highlighted advances in robotic surgery.
Hakan Gök (Turkey) discussed chronic pain following groin hernia repair, while Metin Ertem (Turkey) addressed potential mesh complications. Vasil Kyosev (Bulgaria) lectured on recurrent hernias, and Yuli Vanev (Bulgaria) highlighted the significance of hernia registries. Metin Mazgaldzhy (Germany) provided an update on the loss of domain in inguinal hernia surgery. The final session featured various cases and approaches, shared and debated by surgeons from different Bulgarian hospitals.
A lunchtime scientific symposium on mesh augmentation for preventing incisional hernias in midline laparotomies was led by René H. Fortelny (Austria), with generous support from BD.
The conference shone with lively discussions and the active involvement of young surgeons. The support from silver sponsor BD International and exhibitors GlobalMed and Medicard was crucial.
All lectures and discussions are recorded and available free of charge.
The Bulgarian Hernia Society, as a co-organiser of the 3rd EHS Monothematic Conference, expresses its appreciation to the distinguished international faculty for their exceptional scientific contributions.
The EHS Scientific Committee and BHS Organising Committee deserve admiration for their efforts, which were crucial in realising the conference’s high standards. The superb organisation and logistics provided by Medicon Group were evident throughout the conference’s duration.
All lectures and discussions are freely available HERE
Explore the photo gallery below for some great moments from the conference.
You can find the full album HERE, and don’t miss the highlight video HERE.
