Karl Andrew LeBlanc, MD, MBA, FACS, FASMBS, Abdominal wall, bariatric and general surgeon, Baton Rouge, LA, USA, 1984-present. Attended the Louisiana State School of Medicine in Shreveport, LA, and USA from 1974-1978, followed by a General Surgical Residency from 1978-1983. From 1983-1984, he returned to his hometown of Breaux Bridge, LA, USA but saw the need to pursue his career in a larger city. He remains active in the private practice of general surgery, specializing in herniology and bariatric surgery. He is Professor of Surgery at the Louisiana State School of Medicine Department of Surgery and Associate Medical Director of Surgery of the Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group.

Born in a rural area of southern Louisiana known for its "Cajun" heritage, he pursued his undergraduate education in nearby Lafayette, LA at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. Even at that early age, he was interested in the medical field. During his surgical residency, the interest in hernia was sparked and this has been with him ever since then. During this residency, he was able to become familiar with laparoscopic surgery and used it for diagnostic purposes. Once the laparoscopic era of general surgery began, he rapidly engaged in the advancement of this wonderful tool. His research led to his performance of the world's first laparoscopic incisional hernia repair in 1991.He is a founding member of the Americas Hernia Society and has served as its President. He sits on the Editorial Board of the journals Hernia and the Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgery and a peer reviewer for numerous national and international journals. He has lectured internationally on numerous topics. He has edited or co-edited five surgical texts, some of which has been translated into Turkish and Chinese. He has authored over numerous articles and/or book chapter contributions. Research continues to be an area of interest and he serves a principal investigatorof several projects at this time.

David L. Sanders BSc(Hons), MBChB, FRCS, MD, PGDipMedEd. David Sanders received his undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh in 2003. He received postgraduate training in the South West of England and a trauma fellowship in South Africa. His doctorate thesis was on the influence of mesh and fixation techniques on infection in abdominal wall hernia repair. In 2016 he was appointed consultant upper GI surgeon and and specialist in abdominal wall reconstruction at North Devon Hospital, Barnstaple, Devon, UK.

David specializes in surgery of the gallbladder, anti reflux, hiatal surgery and hernia surgery. He is an internationally recognized expert in the field of abdominal wall reconstruction with over 50 publications in the field of hernia surgery and several book chapters. He has given numerous invited lectures on the topic both nationally and internationally. David is on the board of the British Hernia Society, Chaired the National Institute for Clinical Excellence approved commissioning guidance for groin hernia, was involved in developing the RightCare patient decision aid for inguinal hernias and is on the European working group that developed the Abdominal Wall Closure Guidelines and the International Hernia Guidelines. David is the editor of the Bulletin of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Andrew Kingsnorth JP, BSc (Hons), MB BS, MS, FRCS, FACS, General, pancreatic and abdominal wall surgeon, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, UK and Professor of Surgery Peninsula College of Medicine, 1996-2013. Qualified at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in London in 1973 and undertook postgraduate training in Norwich, Oxford, Harvard, Edinburgh and Cape Town. Appointed consultant surgeon, senior lecturer and subsequently reader in surgery at the University of Liverpool (1987-1996) before moving to Plymouth.

In 1993 he chaired the Royal College of Surgeons of England working party that introduced the first national Guidelines for the Management of Adult Inguinal Hernia. In 1998 he established the Plymouth Hernia Service, the first specialist hernia unit in a public hospital, and pioneered the Lichtenstein operation in the UK. In 2007, he was the first surgeon outside India to use low-cost mosquito net mesh for hernia repair in low-resource countries. With Dr Ravindranath Tongaonkar (q.v.) and David Sanders (q.v.) he has carried out clinical and laboratory research to support the global use of mosquito net mesh hernioplasty. Andrew has championed the Chevrel (q.v.) prefascial, onlay incisional hernia repair with a series of over 500 cases.

Andrew retired from academic and clinical practice in 2013, but continues to lecture occasionally and acts as Director of Hernia International.

Provides an up to date account of the surgical techniques and the available prosthetic materials for repair of simple to complex hernias

Contains a standardized operative template for all operative descriptions

Contains full color illustrations

Includes the most comprehensive listing and description of the meshes of the world far beyond any other text

Part I. General Topics: General Introduction and History of Hernia Surgery.- Essential Anatomy of the Abdominal Wall.- Epidemiology and Etiology of Primary Groin Hernias.- Incisional and Parastomal Hernia Prevention.- The Application of Complex Systems Science to Healthcare and Hernia Disease.- Anesthesia.- Prostheses and Products for Hernioplasty.- Progress in Synthetic Prosthetic Mesh for Ventral Hernia Repair.- Logistics and Specialised Hernia Units.- Outcomes Assessment and Registries.- Part II. Groin Hernia.- Diagnosis of a Lump in the Groin in the Adult.- Anterior Open Repair of Inguinal Hernia in Adults.- Pre-peritoneal Open Repair of Groin Hernias Using Prosthetic Reinforcement.- Tissue Repairs for Inguinal Hernia.- Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair.- Robotic Trans-abdominal Reperitoneal Inguinal Hernia Repair.- Single Incision Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair.- Massive Inguino-scrotal hernia.- Sports Hernias and Athletic Pubalgia.- Femoral Hernia.- Inguinal hernias in Babies and Children.- Management of Adverse Events after Inguinal Hernia Repair.- Chronic Pain after Inguinal Repair.- Part III. Incisional and Ventral Hernia.- The Open Abdomen: Indications and Management.- Open Repair.- Component Separation of Abdominal Wall Muscles.- Minimally Invasive Sublay Mesh Repair of Abdominal Wall Hernias with the MILOS technique (Mini or Less Open Sublay Repair).- Laparoscopic Incisional and Ventral Hernia Repair.- Laparoscopic Ventral and Incisional Hernia Repair with Closure of the Fascial Defect.- Robotic Incisional Hernia Repair.- Component Separation - Robotic Approach.- Postpartum Divarication Navel-sparing Treatment by Multi-disciplinary Approach.- Umbilical, Epigastric, and Spigelian Hernias.- Parastomal Hernia.- Laparoscopic and Robotic Repair of Parastomal Hernias.- Lumbar Hernia.- Hernias of the Pelvic Wall.- Umbilical Hernia in Babies and Children.- Adverse Events After Ventral Hernia Repair.- Abdominal Wall Mesh Infections.