Defining the characteristics of certified hernia centers in Italy: The Italian society of hernia and abdominal wall surgery workgroup consensus on systematic reviews of the best available evidences.

Background: The terms "Hernia Center" (HC) and Hernia Surgeon" (HS) have gained more and more popularity in recent years. Nevertheless, there is lack of protocols and methods for certification of their activities and results. The Italian Society of Hernia and Abdominal Wall Surgery proposes a method for different levels of certification.

Biological meshes for abdominal hernia: Lack of evidence-based recommendations for clinical use.

Background: In the clinical literature on abdominal hernia repair, no sound criteria have been established to support the use of biological meshes as opposed to synthetic ones. Furthermore, the information on biological meshes is quite scarce, and so their place in therapy has not yet been defined.

Methods: The treatment of primary and incisional ventral hernia was the target intervention evaluated in our analysis.