Originally posted June 22, 2016

As every month, we receive visitors to witness operations with the GreenLight laser. In these sessions I demonstrate to my colleagues from other hospitals the different techniques I developed for Green Laser prostatectomy, anatomic vaporization and En bloc GreenLEP.

I recommend the stepwise strategy to learn that I published in the World Journal of Urology )free access) It is also paramount to use the proper instruments, specifically designed to perform mechanical enucleation.

Originally posted June 5, 2016

This time I was interviewed by Teresa Viejo in her program "La Observadora"..

You might want to listen to it in Spanish here.

Originally posted June 3, 2016

This time I travelled to Gran Cnaria to participate in a course, directed to family physicians on BPH and sexual life, organized by Dr. Juarez del Dago, from the Gabinete de Urología at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, at the building of theMedical college of Las Palmas.

My contribution was to talk on BPH and sexual function and discuss the impact of medical and surgical treatment on sexual function.

It was a pleasure as always to visit Gran Canaria, and to spend time with my friend, Dr. Juarez del Dago.

Originally posted May 31, 2016

This year I was invited again to the congress "Challenges in Endourology" in Paris. This time my role was to perform a surgical procedure that would be retransmitted live to the auditorium, where more than 600 urologists worldwide witnessed the live surgery session.

I performed a GreenLight laser enucleation while other surgeons performed enucleations with alternative energy sources.

What seems to be quite clear at this time is that the Gold Standard for BPH is endoscopic enucleation of the prostate, and that very likely there will be only minor differences among energy sources.

Also there was a quite unanimous opinion that the best morcellator in the market is the Piranha system, specially with the fast Vmax blades.

Soon the live videos will be available at the website of Challenges in Endourology. It is already possible to see past years live procedures.

Originally posted May 6, 2016

This time I travelled to San Diego, USA, to participate at the Annual Congress of the American Urological Association, as faculty of the course on Green Laser surgery for BPH treatment.

The director of the course is Prof. Henry Woo, from Sydney, Australia, and also Dr. Oliver Reich, from Munich, Germany, participates.

My role in the course was to talk about the new surgical techniques I developed, anatomic vaporization and endoscopic enucleation with the Green Laser.

These techniques are gaining popularity in Europe, specially in Italy and France, as I devoted a lot of time and trips to popularize them, and slowly they are being adopted in other countries. There was a lot of participation in the course.

It was a great honor to participate in these courses, in the most important urology congress in the world.

Originally posted March 21, 2016

At last our paper reflecting our initial experience with the US-MRI fusion transperineal prostate biopsy has been published online.

We pioneered this technology in Spain and the experience we have obtained since its implantation just confirms that we are in the right track and that this diagnostic protocol for prostate cancer diagnosis improves a lot what we were doing with transrectal biopsies of the prostate, both in terms of diagnostic yield as well as with regards to patient safety.

Every year the European Association of Urology celebrates its annual congress, one of the most important urological events worldwide, with more than 12000 urologists attending from all over the world. In this occasion it was celebrated in Munich, Germany.

This time I was invited to operate in the ESUT session (European School of Uro Technology) where operations were transmitted to the main auditorium of the congress. I had to perform an en-bloc green light enucleation in a man with a 110 g prostate.

Con el Dr. Straub y el Dr. Maisch, antes de la intervención

The operation went really well, and was later transmitted to the main auditorium which was full. I felt really well, after so many years of very hard work, so much sacrifice and dedication, to be able to show a surgical technique that I have developed over many years in the most important forum in urology in Europe... it was a really fulfilling sensation and a moment of personal culmination that I really enjoyed.

I was also very happy to know that more and more surgeons are using this technique successfully, specially in France. I like to think that my small contribution can influence positively the lives of patients who I will never know, further than those that I can treat personally.

The following day Dr. Straub confirmed that the patient was recovering perfectly. And the congress moved on...

On Saturday night I participated in a session where the new iTIND device for the treatment of BPH was presented. The room was full and it generated a lot of interest. In my talk I reflected on the place this device can have in the treatment of BPH and the kind of patient that can benefit from its use.

The next day I participated in a session of troubleshooting in endoscopic procedures for BPH and I spoke about morcellation problems. It was a very lively session, the room was also full.

This session's webcast can be seen in the congress website www.eaumunich2016.uroweb.org

With this my participation in the EAU congress came to an end, although still Dr. Rijo will present today a surgical video on En Bloc GreenLEP that we both sign. I was helping him with his first steps with this technique and he produced a wonderful didactic video. He is a computer genius and he did a great job!

In summary, an excellent congress!!

Originally posted February 5, 2016

This time I went to Milan to perform a surgical demonstration at Ospedale San Rafaele Turro in Milan, invited by Dr. Franco Gaboardi.

They do a lot of Holmium laser surgery and are great specialists in this area, but they were curious to see the GreenLight laser in action and in particular the anatomic vaporization and en bloc enucleation techniques that I described.

First I gave a talk in the department to explain the physics of Green lasers and then I operated four patients, performing two anatomic vaporizations and two enucleations.

The session went very well and the operations were fast and I could return earlier than expected to Madrid.

Dr. Silvia Proietti, urologist from the department tweeted this a little while later:

And she told me that patients fared very well postoperatively.

Originally posted January 22, 2016

Today I participated in the second update day on BPH organized by the urology department at clinica la Luz in Madrid.

I gave a talk on the new iTIND device for the treatment of BPH and then I performed two operations that were transmitted to the meeting room, a Green laser enucleation of the prostate and an implantation of a temporary nitinol device (iTIND).

Everything went very well. I congratulate the organizers for a very well organized course!

Originally posted November 26, 2015

This time I travelled to Barcelona to operate at Clinica TEKNON with Dr. Batista. It was a patient with high surgical risk and a big prostate that we operated uneventfully.

The laser endoscopic enucleation of the prostate is a fantastic treatment option for BPH due to its low risk and high efficacy.

Originally posted November 24, 2015

Again I was invited to participate in the national TV program "Saber Vivir".

This time I presented the Da Vinci Robotic System and we explained how it works and what is it useful for. This robot has really revolutionized urologic surgery and specially the treatment of urologic cancers that affect prostate, bladder and kidney.

This program can be seen in this link.

For more information on Robotic Surgery, our robotic surgery website is www.icirugiarobotica.com.

Originally posted November 18, 2015

Today again we pioneered in the application of a new technology for the treatment of prostatic diseases. This time we implanted for the first time in Spain a Temporary Implantable Nitinol Device (iTIND). It is a sort of stent that is implanted under sedation in 5 minutes and after 5 days it is removed under local anesthesia. During the time it is implanted it creates three bladder neck incisions that improve the voiding quality of the patient.

The main advantage of this device is that it does not affect the patient's ejaculatory function and does not require catheterization or hospital stay. I am sure many patients will prefer this to having to take medication for a long period of time.

Originally posted November 13, 2015

This time I went to Wales invited by the Welsh Urological Society to participate in their Autumn meeting.

I was asked to discuss recent advances in the surgical treatment of BPH.

The meeting took place in an amazing place, the Hensol Castle, inside the Vale Hotel Complex in Wales.

It was an unexpected pleasure to find an old friend, who was a senior registrar with me at the Institute of Urology in London. Dr. Hugh Mostafid, who is now an expert in Bladder Cancer.

This tim

Originally posted November 6, 2015

This time I went to Lugo, to reach Burela, where the Live Surgery Congress of the Galician Society of Urology was celebrated.

My role was to give a talk and to perform a live Green Laser Anatomic Vaporization that was retransmitted to the auditorium of the Hospital in Burela. Everything went very well, it is always a great pleasure to visit Galicia and to meet my friends over there.

I was also interviewed by the Galician regional TV, the interview can be seen here.

Originally posted October 20, 2015

Again I went to Belgium to participate in an advanced course on robotic radical cystectomy and intracorporeal urinary diversion at ORSI.

I had the privilege in this course of performing two robotic radical cystectomies with an intracorporeal diversion and I also went to the operating room to witness a case at the OLV hospital in Aalst.

I am very grateful to Dr. Mottrie for everything I have learned in these courses with him, but I have to say that I have received a lot from Dr. Giorgio Gandaglia, from the Hospital San Rafaele in Milan, who is spending six months working at the OLV hospital in Aalst, and who has taught me a great deal.

For many hears I have devoted myself to teach other colleagues, specially in the use of lasers for the treatment of prostate disease. My experience as a surgical teacher helps me value the generosity of those who teach what they know without limits, and Giorgio Gandaglia is a great teacher. I think he will become no doubt one of the leading urologists in europe in a few years!

Originally posted October 16, 2015

This weekend we had again a surgical session with Dr. Richard Gastón at Clínica CEMTRO. Dr. Gaston is now a member of our team at ICUA and he comes every month from Bordeaux to operate with us in Madrid.

Robotic surgery requires a lot of preparation and a precise coordination among our nurses at ICUA, the anesthetists, hospital nurses, and other personnel, to allow for an uneventful and smooth work.

Vanesa Cuadros, our chief nurse ensures that every detail is looked after and also makes sure that all the clinical information about the patient, his PSA, the result of the digital rectal examination, the information obtained in the biopsy or the transperineal MRI-US fusion mapping, the preoperative MRI are clearly looked at prior to the operation so it can be planned to the detail.

Our nurses, Sandra and Nuria are in charge or organizing all the surgical material necessary for any eventuality. They also assist us during the robotic procedures.

It is fantastic to be able to work in a team full of enthusiasm and will to perform an excellent job!

Originally posted October 12, 2015

This time I travelled to Italy to participate at the congress of the SIU, this time performing a live surgical procedure that was broadcasted to the main auditorium of the congress that was held in Riccione.

With the possibilities offered by modern technology, the operation was performed far from the congress venue, at the Hospital in Carpi, where Dr. Verrini, the head of the urology department was hosting this live surgery session.

My role was to perform an anatomic vaporization in a patient with a relatively big prostate with 80-90 cc.

They told me the main auditorium was full. ¡Everything went very well!

Originally posted October 9, 2015

This time I travelled to The Netherlands to visit the Hospital Reiner de Graaf, in Delft.

There I was kindly hosted by Dr. John Van Der Hoeven who was there with other Dutch colleagues for a surgical session on "En Bloc" GreenLight enucleation of the prostate.

First I gave a talk at the clinical session of the urology department and then we went to the operating room, where they had prepared three patients. Two of them had very large prostate glands.

The session went very well, although two of the cases were a little more difficult than usual. In one of the cases I showed the anatomic vaporization technique. The attending urologists were very impressed with the possibilities of the GreenLight laser with these new techniques for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

I spent the weekend in Amsterdam, and I had a chance to visit the exhibition Body works, where they show "artistic" anatomic preparations of plastinated human bodies. It is amazing, I recommend it thoroughly.

This was a plastinated dissection of the urinary tract and the main vessels in a female subject. Fascinating!