History
In the 19th century British surgeons, such as Sir Astley Cooper, made outstanding contributions to herniology, both in terms of understanding the functional anatomy of the groin and in developing sound surgical techniques.
In the 20th century the initiative was taken by North Americans and Europeans such as Earl Shouldice, Lloyd Nyhus, Irving Lichtenstein and Renee Stoppa.
Modern British surgeons have tended to view specialists in this field with some degree of scepticism and until recently there had been no specialist society, although they have existed in other countries for more than 25 years.
With the initiative of Andrew Kingsnorth and Paddy O’Dwyer the British Hernia Society was founded on 6th December 2003.
The aim was to re-establish British hernia surgery in the forefront of this specialty through a programme of innovative meetings and workshops in collaboration with industry.
- The first meeting was held in Plymouth in November 2004.
- The second meeting was held in Edinburgh in November 2005 , in collaboration with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
- The third meeting was held in Nottingham in February 2007.
- The fourth Annual Conference was held in Glasgow in October 2008.
- The fifth Annual Conference was held in Bournemouth in October 2009.
- The sixth Annual Scientific Meeting, Manchester 2012, will be in Manchester, October 12th and 13th 2012.