Mr. Rick Pretorius

Mr. Pretorius completed his Higher Surgical Training in South Africa as a general surgeon. He obtained his Irish Medical Council Specialist Registration in 2012 and joined St. Luke’s General Hospital, Kilkenny, in 2013.

In his post as general surgeon at St. Luke’s Hospital, Mr. Pretorius was actively involved in enhancing quality and safety for surgical patients. He also increased the variety of surgical options available to patients, mainly focusing on enhancing and improving laparoscopic surgery provision at the hospital, and actively participated in enhancing and implementing international surgical best practice.

Mr. Pretorius has been a listed with the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and the University of Limerick since 2015 and is currently an honorary senior clinical lecturer in both institutions. He provides academic lectures and training courses, related to; advanced laparoscopic surgery, laparoscopic inguinal hernia surgery and complex abdominal wall reconstruction. Mr. Pretorius has an interest in research and has presented his findings at both national and international forums.

Mr. Pretorius provides general surgical services, including:

• Laparoscopic and open cholecystectomy
• Laparoscopic and open colonic surgery (inclusive of appendectomy)
• Minor surgical procedures (skin lesion excision, ingrown toenails, lymph node biopsies)
• Diagnostic and therapeutic upper and lower GI endoscopy
• Open and laparoscopic small bowel surgery
• Peri-anal procedures:
• Haemorrhoid banding and formal haemorrhoidectomy
• Peri-anal fi stulotomy/fi stulectomy
• Botox based therapy for peri-anal fi stula

His special interests include:

• Simple to complex abdominal wall reconstruction (Inclusive of anterior component separation and transvers abdominis release [TAR] / posterior component separation)
• Umbilical/para-umbilical hernia repair
• Primary midline/ventral hernia repair (epigastric/xiphoid/supra-pubic)
• Spigelian hernia repair
• Incisional hernia repair
• Simple to complex inguinal/groin hernia repair (open and laparoscopic)
• Primary/Recurrent direct/indirect inguinal hernia repair
• Femoral hernia repair
• Obturator hernia repair
• Pilonidal sinus disease