Dear EHS Family,
My name is Alexis Terras, a general surgeon from Greece, currently working as a Robotic Colorectal Fellow in the UK at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. While I continue to fine-tune my colorectal practice, my main professional passion has long been abdominal wall reconstruction.
My interest in AWR began early in my training in Greece and over time, I made a conscious decision to further develop my skills in this field, with significant support from the European Hernia Society. My first and possibly most inspiring point in my AWR training was the participation in the advanced hernia course in Reims in June 2023, which, was among the first of its kind with an exceptional faculty and played a major role in confirming my commitment to hernia surgery.
Subsequently, I moved to the UK to pursue training in robotic surgery, primarily focused on colorectal while maintaining and expanding my exposure to, mainly, abdominal wall reconstruction. This included participation in a robotic hands-on course at IRCAD in Strasbourg in November 2024, as well as a visit to Belgium to observe Dr Filip Muysoms as part of an Intuitive proctorship initiative.
At this stage of my training, I felt it was important to “complete” my exposure to abdominal wall reconstruction by visiting a high-volume, internationally recognised European centre through an EHS travelling grant. After careful consideration I concluded that Denmark would be the most appropriate destination.
I was fortunate to spend, almost, two weeks at Sjællands University Hospital under Professor Helgstrand, an experience that proved to be extremely rewarding both clinically and personally. Straight away, I was warmly welcomed by the entire team (Frederik Helgstrand, Mette Willaume, Fleming Hjørne and Carl Chandran Beck) and quickly integrated into the department. There was a strong culture of openness, structured thinking, and genuine willingness to discuss cases in depth, making the environment ideal for learning.
A major benefit of the visit was the emphasis on decision-making rather than technique alone. There were plenty of opportunities to dive deep on patient selection, preoperative optimisation, choice of surgical approach, and postoperative pathways.
I also had the opportunity to attend the unit’s weekly multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting, which was particularly insightful. Another important highlight of my visit was having discussions regarding the Danish national hernia data registry, including how registry data is used to monitor outcomes, improve quality of care, and guide clinical decision-making.
From a surgical perspective, I observed and had the opportunity to assist in a wide range of cases. These included open abdominal wall reconstructions, an interesting case of loss of abdominal domain following an open book pelvic fracture. I also followed and assisted in robotic procedures, including multiple TAPP and eTEP approaches, with and without transversus abdominis release (TAR). I was also lucky enough to observe a perineal hernia repair, performed jointly with the colorectal team which is a rare entity in surgery. Overall, the visit offered an excellent balance of hands-on surgical exposure and thoughƞul discussions.
I would like to sincerely thank the European Hernia Society for supporting this visit through their travelling grant programme. I am also deeply grateful to Frederik, Mette, Fleming, and Carl, and to the wider team at Sjællands University Hospital, for their warm hospitality and generosity.
Sincerely,
Alexis Terras
