Khon Kaen Edition
A half-day didactic symposium on intraperitoneal onlay mesh repair at the Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, followed the next day by a cadaveric workshop in IPOM/IPOM+, TEP and TAPP. The first stop on the road to APHS 2027 — by regional invitation.
Programme
Two half days. Saturday afternoon is a fast-moving symposium built around the decisions that actually determine an IPOM outcome; Sunday morning takes the same techniques to the cadaver lab.
Half-day symposium — “IPOM: Revisit, Refine, Redefine”
Saturday 26 September 2026 · 12:00–16:30Thong-Uab Utaravichian Conference Room, 5th floor, Somdet Phra Srinagarindra Anusorn Building (SW1) ห้องประชุมทองอวบ อุตรวิเชียร ชั้น 5 อาคารสมเด็จพระศรีนครินทราณุสรณ์ (สว1)
Cadaveric workshop — IPOM to IPOM+, TEP and TAPP
Sunday 27 September 2026 · 08:30–14:00Advanced Clinical Skills Training Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University ศูนย์ฝึกทักษะทางคลินิกขั้นสูง คณะแพทยศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยขอนแก่น
IPOM to IPOM+
Intraperitoneal onlay mesh with defect closure — the techniques debated on day one, now performed on the table.
TEP
Totally extraperitoneal inguinal repair — space creation, landmark identification and handling of the previously operated groin.
TAPP
Transabdominal preperitoneal repair — peritoneal flap, dissection of the myopectineal orifice, mesh placement and closure.
Cadaver laboratory places are allocated by invitation. The workshop is deliberately kept small so that every participant gets table time. Surgeons and trainees from across the region who would like to take part should contact the Secretariat. Certificates are issued at the close of the workshop.
Faculty
Thai Hernia Society faculty and the Khon Kaen host team, joined by one international speaker — the format that will run at every stop on the tour.
- Suthep Udomsawaengsup, MD — Congress President, APHS 2027
- Le Quan Anh Tuan, MD — international faculty
- Suphakarn Techapongsatorn, MD
- Pattharasai Kachornvitaya, MD
- Apichart Khomprasert, MD
- Pakpoom Phuagpun, MD
- Suriya Punchai, MD — Khon Kaen host faculty
- Jakrapan Wittayapairoch, MD — Khon Kaen host faculty, workshop briefing
Affiliations and disclosures TBA — to be published with the final programme.
Why attend
IPOM has been written off more than once. This half day asks whether that is fair, and gives a straight answer on where it still belongs in 2026.
- Selection criteria you can apply in your next clinic
- Mesh choice, sizing and fixation argued out in the open
- Complication management from surgeons who have managed them
- A live debate against eTEP, with no agreed conclusion in advance
- Cadaveric time on IPOM/IPOM+, TEP and TAPP the following day
How to attend
The Khon Kaen Edition is a regional invitation meeting, not a ticketed conference. Invitations are extended to surgeons and trainees across the Asia-Pacific region so that access to the cadaveric workshop is not limited by what a delegate can afford to pay.
- Who is invited — general and MIS surgeons, fellows and senior residents, from Thailand and the wider region
- The symposium — open to all invited attendees
- The cadaveric workshop — a smaller group, so that everyone gets table time
- How to be included — contact the Congress Secretariat; there is no public booking page
Getting to Khon Kaen
Khon Kaen is the academic centre of the Northeast, roughly an hour by air from Bangkok and six hours by road.
- By air — Khon Kaen Airport (KKC), multiple daily flights from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang
- By rail — overnight sleeper from Bangkok Krung Thep Aphiwat
- By road — Highway 2 (Mittraphap), approximately 450 km from Bangkok
- On campus — both venues are on the Faculty of Medicine campus, Khon Kaen University, about 15 minutes from the airport
- Accommodation — delegates arrange their own; there are hotels within a few minutes of the Faculty of Medicine campus
Detailed campus directions will be sent with the invitation.
Where this sits on the tour
Khon Kaen opens a four-city series that runs to June 2027 and closes at the congress itself. Every leg follows the same format — didactic lectures paired with a hands-on workshop, local faculty plus one international speaker.
Themes for legs 2 to 4 are provisional and subject to confirmation by the Organising Committee.
Organised by
The Khon Kaen Edition is run jointly by the host society, the national laparoscopic society and the Khon Kaen University surgical centres.
- Thai Hernia SocietyHost society, Road to APHS 2027
- Laparoscopic and Endoscopic Surgeons of Thailand (L.E.S.T.)Founded 1996
- Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen UniversityHost institution
- Srinagarind Minimally Invasive Surgery Center of Excellence (Sri MIS)Host centre
Supported by Medtronic.
Khon Kaen, 26–27 September 2026
The road to APHS 2027 starts in Isan.