Prof. Liatsikos gives preview of surgery-focussed ESUT20

On 23-24 January, ESUT and the German Working Groups of Endourology, Laparoscopy, and Robotic-Assisted Surgery will host a not-to-be-missed, surgery-focussed scientific meeting.

The importance of reaching out

“ESUT has always had the ambition of getting to know all of Europe’s endourologists,” explains Prof. Liatsikos. “Starting from two years ago, we decided to host our Biannual Meeting in collaboration with the different Endosopic and Laparoscopic Societies of the various European countries that we visit.”

“This way, we really reach out to the maximum number of people that are doing the same job as we are within these different countries and gives excellent visibility of both the ESUT and the EAU to all the different people that maybe cannot afford to attend our larger meetings. For example, a lot of residents cannot afford to come to the Annual EAU Congress every year, and so we reach out to them.”

“I think it is very important that we do this meeting in collaboration with different local working groups or national societies. It is a nice way of getting closer to the people, and in turn of getting the EAU well-known and established in the endoscopic surgery scene.”

New technology

Naturally, demonstrating new endoscopic and laparoscopic technology is at the forefront of every ESUT event. Liatsikos: “We aim to show different procedures performed by different surgeons but also using the best technology available. This meeting is going to showcase all the different lasers that are currently available, and the high-power lasers that are coming out, and also different techniques for BPH treatment, like aquablation. New robotic platforms like the AVATERA Robotic system will also be shown as part of a live case during our meeting.”

“Every medical technology company will be showing off its new products: new lasers, new endoscopes, stone-breaking devices, 3D equipment, different kinds of BPH treatments. All these will be demonstrated at ESUT20, and people can also get a taste of this progress when they leave the auditorium and head into the exhibition.”

Live Surgery

This meeting will feature three screens that will be used simultaneously, as premiered in Modena in 2018. Two of these are dedicated to live cases from the University of Leipzig and the third is going to show pre-recorded cases and intercontinental live transmissions from China, Russia, and Canada.

Liatsikos: “The meeting is mainly based on surgical demonstrations. We try to minimize the talks because it has been shown over the years that our audiences are mainly interested in seeing live and pre-recorded cases. People come to our meeting in order to watch live surgeries and to listen to the surgeon explaining the procedure step by step and giving them the tips and tricks that they have to know.”

Naturally, live surgery is constantly evolving on a technical level: “The ESUT is trying to experiment by using the latest internet technology to facilitate the live transmission from different continents to our venue.”

“Clearly, in the near future live surgery is going to be shifting to technologies of long-distance transmission. ESUT, as a section that is always at the forefront of developments, will try to experiment with all of these technologies as we did in Modena. It is very interesting for our attendees to watch how our colleagues from all across the world are operating in their own theatres.”

Professional Advancement

Prof. Liatsikos is also looking at the future of the Section: “We are trying to reach the younger surgeons. We want to have as many residents as possible coming to our meetings and contributing to the Section. We are travelling around Europe and other countries of the Middle East and Africa trying to persuade the young people to come to our activities and see how we can help them out with their training.”

“This is something that ESUT has as a major goal, this is the work that we have been doing for a long time, and our meeting is one of the main platforms that we have to be able to help these people with their professional advancements.”

If you would like to learn more, please visit ESUT20's website.