The UNC Health Hernia Center

The UNC Health Hernia Center is a collaboration across multiple divisions in the department of surgery with the goal to provide the best hernia care to our patients by:

• Providing skilled care in both minimally invasive (including robotic surgery) and open surgical techniques for the repair of abdominal wall hernias and complex abdominal wall reconstruction
• Offering a multidisciplinary approach for optimization of perioperative outcomes and provision of more advanced procedures
• Holding a monthly case conference to discuss and review complicated and difficult cases
• Holding weekly research meetings to focus on advancing the field of hernia treatment through innovative research studies.
• Embracing innovation in concepts, technology and teaching

Surgeons of the UNC Health Hernia Center are dedicated to:

• Improving outcomes through long-term follow-up, data collection, analysis, and continuous quality improvement (CQI)
• Critically evaluating the latest up to date information in publications and communications for the best evidence on how to provide hernia care
• Participating in the Abdominal Core Health Quality Collaborative (ACHQC) for continuous quality improvement
• Contributing at national and international conferences to evaluate and improve patient care

UNC Health Hernia Center surgeons specialize in repairing the following types of hernias:

• Groin hernias – Including inguinal, femoral, obturator hernias and Shouldice inguinal hernia repair without mesh.
• Sports hernia.
• Ventral hernias – Including umbilical, epigastric, incisional, parastomal, spigelian, flank, lumbar, traumatic and multiply recurrent hernias.
• Diastasis recti.
• Mesh related complications – Including chronic groin pain after inguinal hernia repair, mesh infection and fistulas.
• Complex hernias – Including abdominal wall reconstruction performed open and robotically.

UNC Health Hernia Center Surgeons and Collaborators:

• Hernia Surgery

  • Sergio Mazzola Poli de Figueiredo MD
  • Shanelle Campbell, MD
  • Anthony Charles, MD
  • Matthew Eckert, MD
  • Jared Gallaher, MD, MPH
  • Daryl Johnson II, MD
  • Wayne Overby, MD
  • Lauren Raff, MD
  • Trista Reid, MD
  • Marc Whitman, MD
  • Joshua Sumislawski, MD
  • Andrew Schneider, MD
  • Rachel Niehuus, MD
  • Douglas Tyler, MD
  • Timothy Farrell, MD
  • Maggie Hodges, MD
  • John McClellan, MD

• Plastic Surgery

  • Nick Bhatt, MD
  • Jennifer Carr, MD
  • Lynn Damitz, MD
  • Adeyemi Ogunleye, MD
  • Katherine Rodby, MD

• Tobacco Cessation

  • UNC Tobacco Treatment Program

• Physical Therapy

  • UNC Health Physical Therapy

History of the Hernia Center:

Spearheaded by Dr. Hartwig Bunzendahl, MD, PhD, the UNCHC Hernia Center was created in 2013 by UNC surgeons realizing a need for directed collaboration of care for hernia patients.  With a multitude of repairs, new and ever-changing recommendations, and more complicated recurrences, it was felt a team of surgeons dedicated to learning and advancing the care of hernia repair would help to improve patient experiences and outcomes.  Other founding members of the UNCHC Hernia Center include: Lynn Damitz, MD (Plastic Surgery), C. Scott Hultman, MD (Plastic Surgery), Mark Koruda, MD (Gastrointestinal Surgery), Anthony A. Meyer, MD, PhD, (Department of Surgery), Wayne Overby, MD (Gastrointestinal Surgery), and Preston B. Rich, MD (Trauma & Critical Care).