I applied at three hospitals (Spain, Portugal and Norway) to visit their centers and Dr. Luis Tallon Aguilar was eager to receive me in his abdominal wall department at Virgen del Rocio University Hospital.
At my arrival at the hospital, I was met by the team of abdominal wall department that immediately took me in and showed me around the operating room.
I, first, assisted an umbilical hernia repair done open, onlay with a macroporous mesh. The next procedures were mainly inguinal hernia repairs, mainly done laparoscopically (mostly TAPP, but also TEP). They also had a day per week when they performed robotic ventral hernia repairs for parastomal and midline incisional hernias. They did perform Sugarbaker and IPOM repairs.
The team also worked in 2 other hospitals, especially in the afternoons, twice a week, part of the general hospital Virgen del Rocio, namely the Military hospital and Santa Isabel hospital. I was able to attend on the former. They mostly performed inguinal and umbilical hernia repairs, laparoscopically.
I had the pleasure of actively participating in the operations, like first assistent, especially in the laparoscopic procedures. I also had the opportunity of suggesting what could be a proper approach in some given procedures.
There were some procedures I wanted to watch, like I mentioned before, the Sugarbaker procedure, the TARM and LIRA (given that in the general hospital of Virgen del Rocio, there used to work Dr. Salvador Morales Conde, the father of the LIRA procedure).
I also participated in one emergency shift. The emergencies were mostly of general surgery but there were also acute pain cause by hematoma formation after inguinal repairs, surgically evacuated.
I want to salute the whole team for helping me engage in the whole process (from patient admission, to surgery, to discharge, to short-term follow up). It was a very friendly environment but also professionally well equipped to help me see where I am at and where I am aiming to be as a abdominal wall surgeon.
It was with a little sadness that I had to leave but I know I have opened doors and I can come back anytime for however long I want to deepen my formation and keep learning from the team.
A new era of abdominal wall surgery has begun for me and a new pathway is opened. However, I cannot finish this short report without thanking all the Virgen del Rocio University Hospital team (team-leader Dr. Luis Tallon Aguilar, Dr. Alejandro Arteaga Sanchez, Dr. Francesco Moreno Suero, Dr. Jose Tinoco Gonzalez) and last but not least I want to thank the EHS for making all this wonderful experience possible by giving me the grant, although short it was packed.
I have learnt a lot and I am looking forward to applying all this knowledge in my practice. There is still a long road ahead of me but I am confident I will prevail and I will be able to provide the best care possible to my abdominal wall patients.
Sincerely,
Cédric Kwizera
