1st International eULIS-EAU Comprehensive Stone Workshop

The 1st International eULIS-EAU Comprehensive Stone Workshop was held on June 10-11 at the Department of Urology at St. Bartholomew’s and The Royal London Hospitals.

UrolithiasisWorkshop

Recently I had the chance to attend the 1st International eULIS-EAU Comprehensive Stone Workshop held on June 10-11 this year at the Department of Urology at St. Bartholomew’s and The Royal London Hospitals, and organised by the Urolithiasis Section of the European Association of Urology (eULIS), with the support of the EAU Section of Uro-Technology (ESUT).

The workshop (accredited with nine CME points by the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) and the ACME-EAU) was chaired by Mr. N. Buchholz,director of Endourology and Stone Services at Barts and The London NHS Trust. The quality of care for stone patients at Barts Hospital has been recognised by the European Board of Urology (EBU) which also granted the hospital’s stone service a centre of excellence rating. Barts is the second centre in Europe to be awarded the EBU’s excellence status, and the very first one to be awarded this title in the field of stone disease and treatment.

From left: Dr. Stefanos Kachrilas (Chief Resident Nikaia HospitalAthens/Greece), Prof. Palle Osther (Chairman eULIS), Mr NoorBuchholz

From left: Dr. Stefanos Kachrilas (Chief Resident Nikaia HospitalAthens/Greece), Prof. Palle Osther (Chairman eULIS), Mr NoorBuchholz

The workshop’s main objectives were to review the basic principles of conservative and surgical stone diagnosis and management. In addition to metabolic therapies and lifestyle changes, new surgical techniques to facilitate ureterorenoscopy (URS) and percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) were reviewed. Also tips and tricks to recognise, treat and avoid complications were presented. These objectives were accomplished through lectures, hands-on training and step-by-step procedures performed in live cases.

Eleven participants from all over the world (UK, Germany, Greece, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Hong Kong) attended the course. On the first day the trainees attended state-of-the-art lectures given by prominent speakers (N. Buchholz, R. Siener, J. Masood, O. Traxer) on stone disease, stone fragmentation devices, percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and ureterorenoscopy (URS). Afterwards, participants had the opportunity to perform virtual PCNL access, rigid and flexible URS on models, and use stone fragmentation devices such as the Lithoclast and Laser.

Chairman Mr. Noor Buchholz (middle) with participants and faculty

Chairman Mr. Noor Buchholz (middle) with participants and faculty

On the second day, renowned experts (B. Hess, T. Bergsdorf) gave lectures on metabolic stone diagnostics and treatment, and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), followed by a demonstration of radiation protection and patient positioning on the lithotriptor. The lectures were followed by a live surgery at the operating theatre at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. Each case was presented prior to surgery, and procedures such as flexible URS, a prone, and a supine PCNL were demonstrated. The lead surgeons answered queries from participants whilst performing the surgery without disrupting the operating procedure or the step-by-step analysis.

The organisation of the course was excellent and the social programme was a success as shown by the friendly and relaxed atmosphere. I really enjoyed the welcome gala dinner held at a multi-ethnic restaurant where they served exceptional dishes.

I am thankful for having the chance to be actively involved in the URS and PCNL procedures, enabling me to become more familiar with these surgical techniques whilst under the guidance of experienced surgeons. By the end of the course all my questions on certain issues were sufficiently answered. I learned that future eULIS-EAU workshops with the same format are being planned in different countries. I strongly recommend this workshop to residents and practicing urologists as I am convinced that this high-quality workshop boosts the quality of current endourology training to a higher level.