Fundamentos históricos del diagnóstico y tratamiento de las hernias inguinales / Historical Foundations of Diagnosis and Treatment of Inguinal Hernias

RESUMEN Introducción: Es necesario conocer la historia de la cirugía, en general, y de la herniología, en particular, para poder comprender mejor los enormes avances experimentados en esas disciplinas. Muchas de las técnicas quirúrgicas modernas están basadas en los conocimientos y experiencias aportados por los primeros cirujanos, pero no fue hasta la divulgación de la obra del francés Eduardo Bassini, en 1889, que comenzó el impetuoso desarrollo de la cirugía de la hernia inguinal a escala mundial. Entre las más notables reparaciones de hernia inguinal, además de la de Bassini, se citan las de McVay, Halsted, Shouldice y la hernioplastia libre de tensión, popularizada por Lichtenstein. Objetivo: Profundizar en los aspectos cognoscitivos relacionados con los fundamentos históricos del diagnóstico y tratamiento de la hernia inguinal, su evolución y aplicación en la cirugía actual. Método: Revisión bibliográfica digital de publicaciones actualizadas en las bases de datos SciELO, Latindex, Elsevier, PubMed, Medline y Web of Science y Google Académico. Conclusiones: La cirugía de las hernias en general, y de las inguinales, en particular, nunca es rutina; debe ser individualizada a las características de cada enfermo y a los recursos disponibles. El futuro de la cirugía herniaria solo puede entenderse ligado al conocimiento de sus fundamentos históricos, del profundo dominio de la anatomía topográfica y de una esmerada técnica quirúrgica(AU)

ABSTRACT Introduction: It is necessary to know the history of surgery, in general, and herniology, in particular, in order to understand better the enormous advances experienced in these disciplines. Many of the modern surgical techniques are based on the knowledge and experiences contributed by the first surgeons, but it was not until the disclosure of the work of the French Eduardo Bassini, in 1889, that the impetuous development of inguinal hernia surgery began to scale worldwide. Among the most notable inguinal hernia repairs, in addition to that of Bassini, are those of McVay, Halsted, Shouldice and tension-free hernioplasty, popularized by Lichtenstein. Objective: To deepen the cognitive aspects related to the historical foundations of the diagnosis and treatment of inguinal hernia, its evolution and application in current surgery. Method: Digital bibliographic review of publications updated in the databases SciELO, Latindex, Elsevier, PubMed, Medline and Web of Science and Google Scholar. Conclusions: Surgery for hernias in general, and particularly for inguinal hernias is never routine. They must be individualized to the characteristics of each patient and the resources available. The future of hernia surgery can only be understood if it is associated with the knowledge of its historical foundations, the deep mastery of topographic anatomy and a careful surgical technique(AU)

Pure tissue repairs: a timely and critical revival.

"The majority of hernias can be satisfactorily repaired by using the tissues at hand. The use of mesh prosthesis should be restricted to those few hernias in which tension or lack of good fascial structures prevents a secure primary repair. This group includes large direct inguinal hernias and incisional hernias in which the defect is too large to close primarily without undue tension. Most recurrent hernias, because of this factor are best repaired with mesh prosthesis". These words, penned in 1960 by Francis Usher have reconfirmed what had been a mantra of the Shouldice Hospital (Usher in 81:847-854, 1960). The Shouldice Hospital has specialized in the treatment of abdominal wall hernias since 1945. It has, since its beginning, insisted on the fact that a thorough knowledge of anatomy coupled with large volumes of surgical cases would lead to unparalleled expertise. It was Cicero who taught us that "Practice, not intelligence or dexterity, will win the day"! Since the seminal contribution of Bassini (1844-1924), there have been no less than 80 procedures imitating his inguinal herniorrhaphy and much more since the introduction of mesh and mesh devices (Iason in Hernia. The Blakiston Company, Philadelphia, pp 475-604, 1940). All have failed to some extent and it appears that the common denominator for these failures was the inability to understand the importance of entering the preperitoneal space. Only Shouldice and McVay (Lotheissen, Narath) realized the shortcoming and have continued to thrive as a successful procedure. Entering the preperitoneal space eliminates any temptation to plicate the posterior inguinal wall, a layer normally deficient in direct inguinal hernias, but it also allows the identification of muscle layers rectus, transversus and internal oblique muscles which will go to reconstruct the posterior inguinal wall, without tension as reported by Schumpelick (Junge in 7(1):17-20, 2003).

Pierre Franco (1505-1578): An Innovative Surgeon of the 16th Century in the Treatment of Hernia and Lithotomy.

Pierre Franco (1505-1578) was a brilliant surgeon of the Renaissance, a contemporary of Ambroise Paré. He made an impact on the history of surgery with his innovative approaches in the treatment of hernia, lithotomy, and the use of the suprapubic incision. The purpose of this study is to present a detailed account of his work, innovations, and achievements as well as the impact he made on the surgery of the Renaissance.

[Inguinal hernia repair: bringing order to variety]. / Liesbreukchirurgie: orde in verscheidenheid.

- With around 30,000 interventions a year, correction of an inguinal hernia is one of the most commonly performed surgeries in the Netherlands. One would therefore expect the same technique to be used all over the world by now. There are nevertheless different procedures, depending on a patient's age and history, the type of inguinal hernia and the expertise of the surgeon.- When the pathophysiology of an inguinal hernia became clear at the end of the 19th century, Bassini laid the foundation of modern inguinal hernia surgery: reinforcing the posterior wall of the inguinal canal after repositioning the hernial sac with its contents.- Although current surgical treatment still follows this principle, there are now many different techniques for this. Some are named after the 'inventor' of such an operation (Shouldice, Lichtenstein and Stoppa) while others are indicated with an abbreviation (TEP, TAPP, TIPP and TREPP).- In this review article, we describe the surgical techniques currently most common in the Netherlands and bring order to the chaos of proper names and abbreviations.

Made in Italy for hernia: the Italian history of groin hernia repair.

UNLABELLED: The history of groin hernia surgery is as long as the history of surgery. For many centuries doctors, anatomists and surgeons have been devoted to this pathology, afflicting the mankind throughout its evolution. Since ancient times the Italian contribution has been very important with many representative personalities. Authors, investigators and pioneers are really well represented. Every period (the classic period, the Middle Age, the Renaissance and the post-Renaissance) opened new perspectives for a better understanding. During the 18th century, more information about groin anatomy, mainly due to Antonio Scarpa, prepared the Bassini revolution. Edoardo Bassini developed the first modern anatomically based hernia repair. This procedure spread worldwide becoming the most performed surgical technique. After World War II synthetic meshes were introduced and a new era has begun for hernia repair, once again with the support of Italian surgeons, first of all Ermanno Trabucco. But Italian contribution extends also to educational, with the first national school for abdominal wall surgery starting in Rome, and to Italian participation and support in international scientific societies. Authors hereby wish to resume this long history highlighting the "made in Italy" for groin hernia surgery. KEY WORDS: Bassini, Groin hernia, History, Prosthetic repair.

Nyhus-Wantz Lectureship: EHS/AHS Joint Hernia Congress-2012.

When given the honor to deliver the Nyhus-Wantz Lecture at the 5th Annual AHS/EHS International Hernia Congress, the word that came to mind immediately was collegiality. The dictionary tells us collegiality is the cooperative interaction among colleagues. I believe that both Doctors Nyhus and Wantz epitomized this cooperation. Both surgeons were critical in the exchange of ideas between Europe and The Americas regarding herniology that were critical to our past and laid the foundation for our future. In addition, both Doctors Nyhus and Wantz and their work have been extremely important in my development as a hernia surgeon. During the lecture, I will try to touch on these concepts to honor those that have made us what we are today.

From ancient to contemporary times: a concise history of incisional hernia repair.

PURPOSE: This historical review explores the origins of incisional hernia surgery. METHODS: Resources from each significant historical time period were reviewed, namely ancient times, the Greco-Roman period, the Middle Ages and the dawn of the surgeon anatomist, and the modern era. RESULTS: Although incisional hernias only started to be widely reported in the literature in the early twentieth century, an awareness of the risk of incisional hernia formation dates back to ancient times. CONCLUSIONS: Sometimes, it is important to look back at the history and evolution of a topic to continue making positive advances in that field.