English-speaking hernia surgeon in Milan
Dr. Federico Fiori, a specialist in General Surgery and Head of the Abdominal Wall Surgery Unit at San Carlo Borromeo Hospital in Milan, sees patients with hernias and incisional hernias in English, by appointment, at Fi Multicare, Galleria del Corso 4, Milan. This page explains how the consultation works and how the Italian health service is organised.
This page is written for people who need a hernia or incisional hernia assessed in Milan and would rather do it in English: expatriates living in Italy, staff of companies and consulates, and patients referred by colleagues abroad. Rectus diastasis has its own English site, diastasisandbeyond.com, so here the subject is the hernia, that is, a defect in the wall through which fat or bowel can push, and the incisional hernia on a previous scar.
Who sees you
The consultation is held by Dr. Federico Fiori: degree in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Pavia (1994), specialisation in General Surgery at the University of Milan (2000). He is Head of the Abdominal Wall Surgery Unit within the Division of Emergency Surgery (General and Robotic Surgery) of ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo, San Carlo Borromeo Hospital, Milan, a member of the European Hernia Society and the author of the TESAR technique (Totally Endoscopic Sublay Anterior Repair), published in 2019. The full curriculum and publications of Dr. Fiori are on the hub.
In which language
The consultation can be held in English, and the correspondence, the clinical documents and the discharge letter are written in English, so that a doctor in your own country can read exactly what was done. When a patient speaks neither Italian nor English, an interpreter is arranged.
Where it takes place
Consultations and follow-up visits take place at Fi Multicare, Galleria del Corso 4, 20122 Milan, Italy, a short walk from Piazza San Babila (open in Google Maps). Operations are not performed at the practice: they take place in the hospitals where Dr. Fiori operates, which are specified during the consultation.
How to book
By phone at +39 02 7602 1568, or with the form on the contact page. Requests are read by Emma Gadda, the patient pathway coordinator, who arranges the appointment. The form is for information and appointments, and obviously it is not a channel for medical emergencies: in an emergency in Italy call 112.
What to bring to the first consultation
- Reports, and if possible the images, of ultrasound, CT or MRI of the abdominal wall
- Operation notes and discharge letters of previous abdominal surgery
- The list of the medications you take
- Any document from your own doctor or surgeon describing the problem
Bringing these avoids repeating tests that have already been done and lets the assessment start from concrete data rather than from a description.
How the Italian health service works
Italy has a national health service, the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN). What follows is a description of how it is organised, not a statement of what applies to you: that always depends on your residence, your insurance and your own health system.
- Residents registered with the SSN: they have a family doctor, and planned hospital care in the public system normally starts from that doctor's referral, with the waiting times of the public service
- Visitors from the EU or EEA: the European Health Insurance Card covers care that becomes necessary during a temporary stay, not planned treatment. Planned treatment follows different rules, described in the section on coming from abroad on the contact page
- Visitors from outside the EU: care is normally paid directly or through a private insurance, which should be checked with the insurer before travelling
- Private consultations: whether a consultation or an operation can take place within the public service or privately depends on your situation, and it is discussed when you book
If you are planning to travel to Milan for an operation, the section coming from abroad on the contact page explains how many days to plan, what must be arranged at home before leaving and how a remote second opinion works.