What’s your name?
Artur Zanellato
How old are you?
55.
Where do you come from?
UK – Brazil.
How long have you been an EHS member?
6 years.
Describe a day at work as a surgeon in your country:
At Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, all surgeons HPB, OG, Endo, Bariatrics and AWR participate on the on-call rota which is intense with 250 patients in a week.
Outsite the on call we do AWR list weekly and more few lists of groin hernias and GB.
What is your favourite AWR procedure/hernia surgery?
I love to perform any hernia repair but LATIH (Lower Abdominal Transverse Intraparietal Hernias) usually called c-sections hernias or Pfannenstiel Hernias
Why is it your favourite procedure?
It is my favorite due to the complexity and challenging repair sometimes, associated with the fact they are very variable, never the same hernia.
Who inspired you to become a hernia enthusiast/surgeon?
Andrew De Beaux and Bruce Tulloh.
Please, give a small tip or trick to share for this or any other hernia procedure?
ETEPs for LATIH are great but the cross over must be done above the navel as these hernias have no sac! Another tip is to check the CT for uterine adhesions.
Have you attended an EHS congress, meeting, or course?
Yes, All conference since 2019 and few cadaver courses as delegate and faculty.
Which made the biggest impression on you?
Annual conference in 2021, which was held at Copenhagen, in Denmark from October 13 to 16.
What made it great?
I did training in Robotic Hernias Surgery with Phillip Muysoms and Ulrich Dietz. Re-encountering Uli, my former friend from Brazil and seeing how much he was dedicated to hernia was inspiring. I was also impressed with the way hernia surgery was made a proper speciality.
Andrew De Beaux also showed how the hernia surgeons became a family and I was delighted to become a member of the family.
How can the EHS help you in the future?
I believe the EHS can play a key role in supporting my efforts to promote safety in hernia surgery. I would be especially interested in continuing the development of non-technical skills training for hernia surgeons — such as communication, decision-making, and teamwork — which are critical to improving outcomes and fostering a culture of safety. Being part of the EHS community would provide the platform, mentorship, and collaborative opportunities needed to turn these ideas into practical initiatives. I also have a project to improve abdominal wall closure in Gynae and Obstetrics procedures and make these groups aware of the problem with their current guidelines.
What is your dream for the future of hernia surgery?
My dream for the future, especially in hernia surgery, is to contribute meaningfully to improving patient outcomes through continuous learning, collaboration, and innovation. I hope to be part of a community that advances the field — whether through research, teaching, or sharing clinical experiences. My goal is to keep growing and improving as an AWR surgeon, and to be consistently better — for my patients, my colleagues, and the surgical community. I would be honored to one day contribute to organizations like the European Hernia Society, not out of personal ambition, but to give back to a field that has given me so much. A very specific dream is to have the gynae and obstetrics learning how to handle the abdominal wall with the same care of the AWR surgeon and eventually the LATIH following C-sections will disappear.