19 Mar 2024 Trilogy – Reflections from the Hernia Summit 2024
In this third and final entry of the trilogy, I will discuss the Hernia Summit 2024, which took place from February 15th to 17th, 2024, in Big Sky, Montana, USA. This hernia course stands as one of the most significant gatherings on abdominal wall and hernia surgery in the American continent as well as in the world. It convenes annually, typically in February, at a ski resort. This year marked its 14th edition. The course is chaired by Yuri Novitsky, a big big name in hernia surgery. His technique, TAR, has revolutionized hernia surgery. When he initially presented the technique and its outcomes at the Joint EHS and AHS Hernia Congress in 2009 in Berlin, Germany, it was met with skepticism. Unfortunately, I missed that meeting due to the birth of my daughter. Nevertheless, subsequent years have validated the TAR technique with favorable outcomes, marking it as the hallmark of the past decade in hernia surgery. It has also been well adapted to minimally invasive ventral hernia repairs as well as the eTEP technique. Personally, I have learned much from Yuri. He honored our national hernia congress by being our guest last November.
This meeting is structured in a course format with limited room for Q&A. Current hernia repair techniques in open, laparoscopic, and robotic approaches are covered in the scientific program. The speakers include internationally renowned expert hernia surgeons such as Todd Heniford, David Chen, Jorge Daes, Filip Muysoms, and many other esteemed figures. The attendance of such distinguished figures alone justifies participation. There are no surprises or disappointments. Sessions are scheduled from 6 AM to 10 AM and from 4 PM to 8 PM, allowing ample time to enjoy the amenities of the ski resort. It’s a fantastic format, with the most striking aspect being the packed auditorium at 6 AM.
I’d like to share an observation. I wrote on AWR Europe 2024 in my previous blog post, where the speaker asked how many in the audience were performing robotic hernia surgery. When I counted the raised hands, there were only 15 in a room of over 200 attendees. This seems to be the case in Europe. But what about the USA? The same question was posed in Big Sky, where again there were over 200 attendees, and nearly the entire room raised their hands. This wasn’t surprising. Currently, Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci platform monopolizes the robotic platform market, having sold over 8000 platforms by Q3 2023, with 60% of them in the USA. I’d say the Americans have replaced their laparoscopy towers with robots.
I want to highlight two remarkable and innovative sessions. One is the ‘M&M’ (Morbidity and Mortality) session, where speakers presented and discussed their complicated cases and how they were managed. This session, enriched with videos and images, was highly instructive and educational. People tend to showcase their successful outcomes on social media, which is natural. However, complications are inevitable. It’s crucial to acknowledge and learn from them, drawing lessons from diverse experiences. Hence, I found this session immensely valuable and instructive.
The second session is the ‘Stump the Professors’ session. Here, participants were asked to submit their complex cases with 1-2 slides before the course. These cases were then presented, and Yuri Novitsky, as the chair, invited speakers on stage to provide brief insights. There were some challenging and intriguing cases, and almost all of them lacked consensus in their management. This reinforced the notion that hernia surgery is not as straightforward as perceived, substantiating the slogan widely used among hernia friends, #ItsNotJUSTaHernia.
The interest in this course is immense. Attending it is akin to reaching the Everest base camp :)) We decided to attend the course at the last moment. Don’t do that. Make your decision and organize everything well in advance. It’s challenging to secure a spot, and prices are significantly higher.
The flight was quite long. We flew directly from Istanbul to Los Angeles, which took 14 hours. Thankfully, Turkish Airlines (THY) provided excellent comfort and delicious meals. THY flies to almost every corner of the world, making it the leading airline in terms of destinations served, as far as I know. From Los Angeles, we flew to Bozeman in 3 hours. From there, it took an hour by car to reach the summit. But it was definitely worth it. Both the content of the meeting and being among hernia friends were immensely enjoyable.
CineMed handled the technical secretariat. Under the supervision of Alison Marinelli, everything was flawless. They were very helpful.
Big Sky! What an amazing ski resort within Yellowstone National Park. The natural beauty is well preserved, and accessing it via Bozeman International Airport is very convenient. The slopes are long and varied. The weather was fantastic, with a mix of sunshine and cold, but it was invigorating.
It was a fantastic hernia meeting. I congratulate Yuri for his dedication and success. Next year, the 15th Hernia Summit will be held from February 10th to 12th, 2025, in Park City, Utah. Don’t miss it!
