Travel Grant Report: Madrid, January, 2024

Dear Hernia friends, 

My name is Gianluca Piccirillo, I am a general surgeon currently working at “AORN” in Caserta. In the last few years my focus of interest is abdominal wall surgery. To reach excellent results it is essential to have a deep knowledge of the anatomy and the continuous curiosity towards the new and innovative techniques. It is also fundamental, to see several different ways of working as well as obtaining knowledge from a variety of experienced surgeons, particularly in this field of surgery in full evolution. 

 I would like to thank EHS for the opportunity that was given to me. During one week from January 7th  to January 14th ,  2024  I had the possibility to visit an abdominal wall unit in Madrid at Hospital La Paz under the supervision of Dott. Sergio Salido.  It was the first time I visited a Unit of surgery fully dedicated to abdominal wall surgery. 

During my time in Madrid, I had the chance to see a large number of surgical interventions, in particular, I had the opportunity to see and learn tips and tricks of the e-Tep ventral hernia repair. My big interest in this procedure is because I think it is going to become the minimally invasive reference procedure for the abdominal wall surgery and because I think the extraperitoneal space is the best place for meshes placement. 

I would like to give a special thanks to Dott. Sergio Salido and his team.  I can’t stress enough how professional he is and how highly skilled he is. In this letter, however, I would like to underline how he is passionate about abdominal wall surgery, his kindness and his ability to share his knowledge in every moment and in a relaxed and friendly manner. He and his young team never once made me feel like a foreigner during my time in the hospital.  

Finally, it was an amazing experience, the EHS travel grant gives surgeons the chance to  

meet new colleagues in European surgical centers of excellence, to obtain knowledge about various surgical techniques in a field such as that of hernia surgery in continuous evolution.  

I hope to have an opportunity to visit other surgical centers and step by step obtain the UEMS AWS   diploma in the future. Thank you EHS 

Gianluca Piccirillo