Originally posted May 8, 2019

This time I flew to Berlin, Germany, to participate in a course on the use of Holmium laser for the treatment of urinary stones, tumors, and Benign Prostate Hyperplasia.

My role was to perform a surgical procedure in a patient with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia to demonstrate the technique of En Bloc HoLEP that we have recently described.

The operation went very well, and I could finish it in 30 minutes. I had the possibility to defend this approach in opposition to the classic technique of enucleation in three pieces of the prostatic adenoma. In my opinion, this technique has many advantages, the most significant being to reduce the risk of postoperative transient incontinence.

Originally posted April 12, 2019

This time I went to Poland to participate in the Endorology Congress of the Polish Urological Society, that took place in the city of Bidgoszcz. I was invited to perform a live operation showcasing the En bloc technique for HoLEP.

The patient I operated had a 200 cc prostate and the operation went very well, causing a big impression in the urologists attending, as I could complete the operation in 75 minutes, and many urologists believe these operations take hours.

I also had the opportunity to present on this technique that same evening. I then went to Warsaw where I stayed one more day to operate with my friends at the Hospital Sant Anny in Piaseczno, before returning to Madrid.

Originally posted April 1, 2019

During the last congress of the European Association of Urology this book, edited by the ESUT (European Society of Uro-Technology), was launched. I contributed with a chapter on Green Laser enucleation of the prostate. It is a book written by European experts on minimally invasive surgery in urology. It can be bought through the editorial website minerva médica.

This time The Congress of the European Association of Urology took place close from home, in Barcelona. The weather was really nice with sunny days that our colleagues from northern Europe appreciated a lot.

First I participated in the joint session EAU-CAU (American Confederation of Urology), where I was invited to give a lecture on "Prostate Enucleation, Holmium or GreenLight laser".  I commented on my experience with both techniques and explained my personal evolution. It started with vaporization and moved on to the description of the surgical technique for anatomic vaporization. How then I described a new technique for Green laser enucleation and finally leading to the recent publication of the en bloc enucleation with the early apical release with the holmium laser.

The following day I moderated a section of the live surgery transmissions organised by the ESUT (European Society of Uro-Technology), where several surgical techniques were presented and retransmitted live from Fundació Puigvert in Barcelona.

The auditorium was impressive, with such a big screen. It was a great pleasure to see Dr. Rijo from Barcelona present his video on my technique of Green laser endoscopic enucleation of the prostate.

The following day, in another ESUT session, I presented this technique step by step with other international experts that spoke about other endoscopic enucleation techniques.

I also did two informal presentations during the congress at the Lumenis stand in the commercial exhibition area, on the role and advantages of En-bloc enucleation and the new MOSES technology.

Finally, I moderated a session in my last congress day where videos were presented on the advances of surgical techniques for the treatment of BPH and new prostate biopsy techniques for the advanced diagnosis of prostate cancer.

In sum, a very interesting congress, full of new innovative concepts in all areas of urology.

Recently we published our technique for En bloc enucleation of the prostate with Holmium laser in the World Journal of Urology.

The paper describes the surgical technique and the results obtained in the first 137 patients treated from January 2015 to March 2017.

This technique is a variation of the original one described by Peter Gilling to perform HoLEP (Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate) that provides higher speed, safety, and better results, diminishing the risk for temporary urinary incontinence postoperatively.

Originally posted March 8, 2019

Today we received the visit of Prof. Tullio Sulser, head of the department of Urology of the University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. Prof. Sulser is an old friend who has shared with me the interest for lasers for many years. He came accompanied by Dr. Etienne Keller, from his department.

He shared the morning with us at the operating theater at Clinica CEMTRO in Madrid, where we performed 5 en-bloc enucleations with Holmium laser during the morning..

En bloc HoLEP is a very fast and safe procedure for the definitive treatment of BPH. It was a pleasure to share time with Prof. Sulser.

Originally posted March 2, 2019

This time I flew to Warsaw, to participate in a course of the Lumenis Academy, on Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate. My role was to give a couple of talks and to perform a live surgical procedure, to demonstrate En bloc HoLEP to the audience.

There were more than 50 urologists from various nationalities. It was a pleasure to meet there with some colleagues from the Hill Clinic in Bulgaria, Dr. Jordan Tomov and Dr. Goran Derimachkovski, as well as with Dr. Marek Zawadzki, from the EMC Sant Anny Hospital in Piasezcno, Poland, where I am going to operate lately.

A very well organised course and very interesting, with very prestigious invited professors, like Dr. Tev Aho, from Cambridge, UK, and Dr. Tobias Bothmann, from Berlin.

Originally posted November 8, 2018

This time we welcomed two respected urologists from Jordan, who were interested in the En Bloc approach for HoLEP (Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate).

I performed 8 operations in two consecutive days at ICUA-Clínica CEMTRO in which they could appreciate the advantages of this surgical approach.

We could complete all the operations in 30-40 minutes and I could demonstrate how this approach is much more simple than the classic technique for HoLEP in which the adenoma is fragmented into two or three pieces.

Originally posted November 2, 2018

As every month, I flew to Bulgaria to work at the Hill Clinic. This time I was invited to participate in an interview in Bulgarian National TV, to discuss the movement Movember, and the importance of early diagnosis of prostate cancer.

The interview can be viewed here.

Originally posted October 27, 2018

Again I flew to Warsaw to operate at EMC Sant Any Hospital in Piaseczno with my Polish friends.

This time we performed 16 HoLEPs that went very well. It seems that the collaboration is establishing itself and I will be traveling there every month to collaborate with the department of urology at the Hospital with Dr. Marek Zawadzki and Przemislaw Zugaj.

Originally posted October 18, 2018

I was honoured to be invited to the 55th Course of Fundació Puigvert in Barcelona. An impressive course with more than 600 attendees and an exciting programme with multiple live surgical transmissions and world class invited speakers.

I had to perform an endoscopic enucleation of a patients prostate with the Green Laser, a GreenLEP procedure in a patient with a prostate size of 125 cc, that was technically very complex, but that I could successfully perform. I think the attendees enjoyed a very difficult case and also due to the moderators of the session, that did an excellent job with their questions.

Later on that day I gave a talk on Endoscopic Enucleation of the Prostate.

I returned to Madrid, very impressed by the enormous effort carried out by Fundació Puigvert to organise this very high level course.

Originally posted October 16, 2018

This new paper on aquablation for the treatment of BPH is now available online. It is published under the umbrella of the ESUT (European Society of Uro-Technology).

Originally posted September 28, 2018

After six months with us, we are departing from our friends Dr. Giussepe Saitta, from Italy and Dr. Ernesto Aguayo, from Mexico, with great sorrow.

They have been excellent company and very helpful during their stay in Madrid, and witnessed a lot of endoscopic and robotic surgery throughout these months. 

We will miss them! 

Originally posted September 21, 2018

This time I fleew to Paris to participate in the World Congress of Endourology

My role was to give a lecture on GreenLEP (GreenLight Enucleation of the prostate) in a simposium of the congress.

I was also invited to participate in a panel on Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia but I could not stay and a french colleague used my presentation on my absence.

I love to see how the technique I described of Green Laser Enucleation of the Prostate is gaining popularity in Europe and has more and more presence in high level congresses.

Originally posted September 14, 2018

Again I flew to Warsow in Poland, to operate in the Hospital in Piaseczno with my Polish colleagues.

It was an intense surgical session where we performed 12 HoLEPs (Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate).

It was good to know that all patients fared well and were able to go home the next morning.

Originally posted September 13, 2018

The prestigious international channel of advances in surgery AIS Channel, very well known worldwide in General Surgery for the quality of their live surgical transmissions, initiates its experience in the specialty of Urology.

I had the honor to participate in this new channel with the transmission of a live surgical procedure, performing an En-bloc GreenLEP.

This initiative is fully backed by the European Association of Urology and can be seen here https://aischannel.com/director-greenlight-bph/

Originally posted September 12, 2018

This time we receive the visit of urologists from different European Countries, Holland, Germany, UK, Lebanon, Denmark and others to participate in the advanced surgical techniques with GreenLight laser at ICUA - Clínica CEMTRO.

This time we started in the main auditorium. Dr. Giusseppe Saita and Dr. Ernesto Aguayo, our fellows helped us greatly with the moderation of the live transmission from the operating room

The course took place over two days where we had first a live surgical sesion, where Dr. Misrai and myself showed the anatomic vaporization technique and the en bloc GreenLEP technique.

After a nice course dinner at Restaurant Filandon, near the Clinic, we started the second day, where we discussed different aspects of BPH surgery with the GreenLight laser, with lectures from Dr. Misrai, Dr. Giovanni Ferrari and myself.

As always, a great occasion to interact with other colleagues and to learn all together!

Originally posted August 15, 2018

This video-article published in the journal UROLOGY is the result of the hard work of Dr. Enrique Rijo, who edits fantastic and very formative videos, with the help of Dr. Aho and Misrai and my contirbutions. An excellent source of information for those who want to learn the techniques of anatomic enucleation of the prostate that are followed by the step of morcellation, or aspiration of prostatic tissue to be able to send it for histological analysis.

Originally posted August 2, 2018

I travelled to Poland in the beginning of August, to help Dr. Marek Zawadzki and his team with their training in Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate at the Hospital in Piaseczno, near Warsaw.

It was a very interesting experience as I could see how much easier is to learn the En Bloc HoLEP technique in comparison to the classic three piece technique. After a two-day session with surgeries my very talented polish colleagues could perform the technique independently.

Dr. Zawadzki proposed the idea of collaborating in the future and for some time I will go to operate patients with them in Poland on a regular basis.

They are very experienced in endoscopic treatment of stone disease and I can tell they are a great team, ambitious, very scientific and with a great future in Poland. The hospital had impressive surgical facilities as well.

My visit had some impact in the local press!

Originally posted July 18, 2018

Again we received visitors to our operating room. This time we welcomed Dr. Francisco Félix, from Hospital Comarcal Santiago Apóstol, Dr. Omar Ben Miloud, from Hospital de Zumárraga and Dr. José Alvarez Kindelan, from the Hospital Reina Sofía in Madrid.

It was as always an interesting session and we could discuss at large the subtleties of the anatomic vaporization and GreenLEP techniques with our colleagues.