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  Lhe modern history of hernia surgery dates backs to the end of the 19th Century. At that time new anatomical knowledge and the discovery of anaesthesia enabled the patients suffering from hernias to be operated on with excellent results.
 With the development of general anaesthesia, the use of local anaesthetic was forgotten for many years. However in the 1980s in Spain, pioneering groups reverted to surgery with local anaesthetic. One was headed by Dr Antonio Martín Duce. He completed his surgical training at the Shouldice Clinic of Toronto in Canada, a specialist institution in hernia surgery. With over 60 years experience and with the treatment of over 300,000 patients they have actively contributed to modernise treatment by hernia surgery. They started implementing new techniques with reduced long term readmissions than from the techniques used to then. They incorporated local anaesthetics in this type of surgery with a lesser risk. This enabled the start of a more ambulatory surgical procedure and to thoroughly change the surgical concept of hernia surgery.
Hundreds of patients have been operated on over the last 15 years with similar results from than the main groups of hernia surgery. These results have been presented at meetings and in leading international publications.
Throughout these years a close follow-up was made of both techniques - with the incorporation of prosthetic  material - and with local anaesthesia with sedation by an epidural and spinal anaesthesia, thereby allowing greater comfort and security to the patient as well as reduced disturbance and a shorter convalescence.
These intense activities of Dr Martín Duce in the field of hernia surgery turned him into the promoter and Manager of the first and second National Congresses in Hernia Surgery, held in Alcalá de Henares in 1991 and 1993. The tremendous success of these events formed the seeds of the present national meeting named "Hernia" as well as the creation of the Asociación Española de Cirugia Ambulatoria (ASECMA) (Spanish Association of Ambulatory Surgery) as well as the Abdominal Wall Division of the Spanish Surgeons Association. This has successfully contributed to increase consideration of hernia surgery in Spain at its surgical level.
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