Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/79506
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++ +++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SURGERY SPOTLIGHT + + A Setting Trends in Hernia Repair By Robert Janek PPROXIMATELY 5 MILLION Americans suffer from her- nias, but only 15 percent seek treatment according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Why? "Many patients think, 'it's just a hernia'," says Michael Rosen, MD. "But it's never 'just a hernia' to us." Dr. Rosen is nationally recognized for advanced recurrent hernia repair. He's also division chief, General Surgery, University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center, and co-directs, along with Yuri Novitsky, MD, the UH Comprehensive Hernia Center where more than 200 hernia repairs are performed every year by a team of seven surgeons. In addition to Dr. Rosen and Dr. Novitsky, they include general surgeons Raymond Onders, Jeffrey Marks, Amitabh Goel and Jeffrey Ponsky, and plastic surgeon Hooman Soltanian. These surgeons have been instru- mental in pioneering improvements in surgical techniques. In addition, Drs. Rosen and Novitsky have pioneered materials for hernia repair. As a result, their recurrence rate for all types of hernia repairs, even for some of the most complex reconstructive procedures, is very low. "Hernia surgery is challenging. It's not the same for every patient," says Dr. Rosen, who recently edited an Atlas of Abdominal Wall Reconstruction, a top reference book. "To get excellent results, which I would define as very low recurrence rates and low patient morbidity — particularly chronic pain, it's important that a team develops a whole spectrum of approaches to treat the whole spectrum of hernias that are out there." Both minimally invasive surgery and innovative new open surgical options are offered by the surgeons at UH's Comprehensive Hernia Center for all types of hernias, including + femoral + hiatal + incisional + inguinal + paraesophageal + umbilical and + ventral hernias. "We look at every patient individually, and we offer a customized patient- centered approach — whether it is the most minimally invasive or the most maximally invasive — whatever is necessary for the patient," says Dr. Rosen. Michael Rosen, MD, and Yuri Novitsky, MD, co-direct University Hospitals Comprehensive Hernia Center. PHOTO © JOE SMITHBERGER, SMITHBERGER PHOTOGRAPHY, NORTH CANTON