Subspecialist abdominal wall reconstruction services in Canada

Abstract

Summary Recent years have seen considerable increases in both the demand for, and complexity of, ventral hernia repairs. This has led to calls for abdominal wall surgery to become a recognized subspecialty in the United States and Europe, with some centres responding by forming specialized, multidisciplinary teams for abdominal wall reconstruction. At present, however, no Canadian city has followed suit. In this article, we outline the major arguments underlying the drive toward the centralization of complex abdominal wall services.

Certified Fellowship in Abdominal Wall Surgery—A Collaboration Between the UEMS and the European Hernia Society

“…"Over the last 20 years, a great number of innovations both in operative techniques and technologies have revolutionised abdominal wall surgery" [22]. Associated with this has been the increase in the complexity of ventral hernia repair [5,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. This has led to calls for AWS to become a recognised subspecialty in the United States and Europe [5,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22].…”

“…Associated with this has been the increase in the complexity of ventral hernia repair [5,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. This has led to calls for AWS to become a recognised subspecialty in the United States and Europe [5,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Despite this, certification around the attainment of a minimum standard in AWS have been offered neither in the USA nor in Europe to date [5,[30][31][32].…”

“…Over 80% of chief residents undergo a 1 to 2 year fellowship in various subspecialties [13]. In light of the trends described above, scientific associations and experts have for years been calling for the introduction of fellowships in abdominal wall surgery [5,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22].…”