“Hernia surgery is not simply about closing a hole.”
That distinction, Michael Turturro, MD says, defines the clinical philosophy and the mission of the Atlantic Health Hernia Center at Overlook Medical Center. For him, abdominal wall surgery is reconstructive by nature. The objective is not merely to place mesh or approximate fascia. It is to restore anatomy, function, and structural integrity in a way that holds up over time.
“My goal is to establish the normal anatomy that the person once had,” he explains. “It’s to restore their abdominal wall as best as possible back to what it used to be.”
That mindset shapes how patients are evaluated, how repairs are selected, and how referring physicians can think about timing.
A Dedicated Abdominal Wall Focus
Dr. Turturro is a board-certified general surgeon with specialized training in abdominal wall reconstruction. While he treats the full spectrum of general surgical pathology, the majority of his operative volume centers on hernias.
“Most frequently, the procedures I do are related to hernias,” he says, ranging from straightforward groin and umbilical repairs to complex, multiply recurrent abdominal wall reconstructions.
Those complex cases often require posterior component separation, performed either open or minimally invasively depending on anatomy and prior surgical history. The technique allows safe separation of muscle layers to achieve midline closure without tension. Few community-based programs offer this level of reconstructive capability.
The Hernia Center itself was developed to consolidate expertise and volume. Rather than distributing hernia care across multiple service lines, Atlantic Health created a dedicated program designed to manage everything from primary inguinal defects to advanced abdominal wall failure.
“We offer a more nuanced take on these hernias that are typically only seen in large academic centers,” Dr. Turturro says, “but we can offer that here in the community.”
Defining Advanced Hernia Care
Advanced hernias are not simply larger versions of primary defects. Complexity may arise from multiple failed repairs, prior mesh placement, significant loss of domain, or challenging comorbidities.
“An advanced hernia is any hernia that is large, or where the patient has had multiple repairs that have failed and you need the expertise to separate the muscles to bring them back to the middle,” he explains. “This needs to be done in a safe fashion.”
Posterior component separation, whether open or robotic, allows restoration of midline anatomy in these scenarios. The emphasis is not on approach for its own sake, but on achieving tension-free closure in a biomechanically sound plane.
The Hernia Center also evaluates patients with chronic groin pain, mesh-related complications, and diastasis in postpartum women. The scope extends beyond defect repair to comprehensive abdominal wall management.
Why Hernias Recur
Recurrence remains one of the most important concerns for referring physicians. Dr. Turturro approaches failure as a multifactorial issue.
“What lends a hernia to fail could be several factors,” he notes. “The patient may not have been optimized. They may have been overweight, diabetic, smoking. Those things predispose them to failed repairs.”
Technical considerations also matter. Plane selection, mesh positioning, and prior operative strategy influence durability.
“Where the mesh was placed, what type of mesh was used, how the hernia was fixed,” he says, “those also predispose people to having recurrences.”
This dual focus on patient optimization and technical precision informs preoperative planning at the Hernia Center. Imaging, typically CT scanning, is used to define defect dimensions and evaluate musculature. Prior operative reports are reviewed when available. Risk factors are addressed whenever possible before elective repair.
Equally important is aligning surgical planning with patient goals.
“What’s most important for me is what the patient’s expectation is for the repair, the recovery, and how they can get back to their day-to-day living,” Dr. Turturro says.
A Multidisciplinary Infrastructure
The Hernia Center is structured to support complex patients beyond the operating room. Care involves collaboration with medical physicians, infectious disease specialists, interventional radiology, experienced inpatient nursing staff, wound care teams, and physical therapy.
That infrastructure allows the program to manage higher-risk cases, including patients who have been declined elsewhere. Dr. Turturro recalls a recent patient with a large traumatic hernia who had been turned away because of operative risk.
Through internal referral, the patient underwent reconstruction and achieved an excellent result. For Dr. Turturro, these cases underscore the importance of specialized evaluation rather than reflexive deferral.
Clear Referral Pathways
Referral guidance is intentionally straightforward.
“Any patient with a hernia, whether it’s in the groin or in the abdomen or a hiatal hernia, should be referred to our center,” he says. “We will find a physician and a team that is specialized for their problem.”
Communication with referring physicians is direct and consistent. After consultation, the surgical plan is shared. Following repair and postoperative evaluation, outcomes are communicated through the electronic medical record or direct outreach.
The intent is continuity, not transfer of ownership. Hernia management becomes a collaborative effort rather than a siloed intervention.
Driven by Curiosity and Impact
Dr. Turturro’s interest in abdominal wall surgery developed during residency.
“Every hernia case that I scrubbed as a resident, I had more questions,” he says. That curiosity led him to pursue specialized training and to study how experienced reconstructive surgeons approach abdominal wall pathology.
What sustains that focus now is the visible impact on patients.
“What keeps me going every day is the patients, ranging from the complex to the simple,” he says. “I love seeing the results of my work and the impact that it has on their lives.”
For referring physicians, the distinction is important. Hernia repair may be common in volume, but durable abdominal wall reconstruction requires focused expertise, thoughtful patient selection, and coordinated perioperative care. At Atlantic Health’s Hernia Center, that structure is intentional, specialized, and designed to restore more than just a defect.
To refer a patient or discuss a case with our abdominal wall reconstruction team, call the Atlantic Health Hernia Center at 908-522-5794.