Department of Hernia Surgery (56)

About the department

The Department of Hernia Surgery at the PAN Clinic Cologne offers all the options of modern medicine for the timely detection and effective treatment of hernias. The team of the department's surgeons specializes in the treatment of inguinal, umbilical hernias, epigastric hernias, incisional, diaphragmatic and femoral hernias. The ​​competence of the medical facility also includes interventions for recurrent hernias and laparoscopic surgery on the abdominal organs – gallbladder, cecum (appendix) and stomach. The department is headed by Dr. med. Bernd Stechemesser.

The department can boast of state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and advanced operating rooms adapted for both classical open and sparing laparoscopic operations. The medical facility has the quality certificate of the German Hernia Society, which confirms the compliance of clinical practice with modern requirements and standards. Special attention should be given to highly professional department's surgeons, who have already performed thousands of successful hernia repair procedures, including especially complex ones. The department performs more than 1,200 interventions every year, so it is not surprising that the medical facility is one of the largest German medical centers specializing in hernia treatment.

The department's medical team successfully performs surgery for all types of hernias, while the most common of them are inguinal hernias. The department uses all modern surgical interventions to eliminate the pathology: abdominal wall plastic surgery with autologous tissues and plastic surgery using special meshes. In the first case, Shouldice and Desarda hernia repair techniques are performed. The principle of the Shouldice technique is to apply a multilayer suture to the transverse fascia to form the posterior wall of the inguinal canal. When performing Desarda procedure, surgeons strengthen the inguinal canal using the patient's own tissues. Totally extraperitoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair is the standard treatment method for inguinal hernias using meshes. When performing such operations, the department's specialists use minimally invasive surgical techniques. The team of the department's surgeons prefers this particular operation, since it is performed in the preperitoneal space, does not require laparotomy, guarantees minimal postoperative pain and almost eliminates the risk of damage to internal organs and the risk of developing adhesions. With all these advantages, totally extraperitoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair allows achieving a high-quality treatment result. The doctors of the medical facility often resort to Lichtenstein technique and transinguinal preperitoneal technique (TIPP). These interventions are performed using open surgical techniques, and therefore they are usually last-line therapy and are used only in extremely complex clinical cases. The optimal type of surgical intervention is selected for each patient only on an individual basis. In addition, the attending physician provides the patient with information about possible treatment options and explains each of them in detail.

Epigastric hernias and incisional hernias are also quite common in the clinical practice of the department's doctors. To treat these types of hernias, they mostly use hernia repair surgery with mesh placement. The specialists of the medical facility offer patients with epigastric hernias and incisional hernias two effective minimally invasive interventions: MILOS procedure and PUMP procedure. The department's therapeutic options are complemented by the treatment of diaphragmatic hernias using the 3D laparoscopic technique for mesh implantation.

The department's range of medical services includes:

• Surgical treatment of inguinal hernias
  • Shouldice technique
  • Desarda technique
  • Totally extraperitoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair
  • Lichtenstein technique
  • Transinguinal preperitoneal technique (TIPP)
• Surgical treatment of epigastric hernias and incisional hernias
  • MILOS procedure
  • PUMP procedure
• Surgical treatment of diaphragmatic hernias
  • Innovative 3D laparoscopic surgery with mesh placement
• Surgical treatment of recurrent hernias
• Laparoscopic surgery on the abdominal organs – gallbladder, cecum (appendix) and stomach
• Other surgical options