Foreign visitors

Today we had the great honor of receiving the visit of two great urologists. Professor Lacoste, from France, and Professor Merhej, from Lebanon.

I did two procedures at Clinica CEMTRO where I could show them the technique of anatomic vaporization of the prostate, that consists in vaporizing the whole prostatic adenoma using two principles: One, capsular localization, that allows for a complete vaporization of the adenoma. Two, the use of intraoperative TRUS (Transrectal Ultrasound) monitoring of the procedure, a fantastic way of guaranteeing the completeness of the procedure.

I think both were satisfied with the new concepts. I always enjoy sharing my experience with my colleagues.

Talk in Gran Canaria

This Friday I came to Gran Canaria hosted by my friend and great urologist Dr. Juarez del Dago, that had organised a conference for medical practitioners on the treatment of BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) with the GreenLight Laser.

I was interviewed by the regional TV channel. I tried to explain how fast BPH surgery is changing worldwide, and how today the classic surgical approaches for the treatment of BPH, open surgery and TURP (transurethral resection of the prostate) are losing favor and are becoming obsolete. I also explained that the American Urological Association and European Association of Urology recognize this fact in their latest guidelines.

Surgical Session with Dr. Gaston

Today we operated at Clínica CEMTRO with Dr. Gastón and Dr. Estefanía Romero, we had programmed three laparoscopic radical prostatectomies and a laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. It has been an intense session and extremely interesting. Dr. Gaston is a true master, one of the best surgeons if not the best in the planet for radical prostatectomies. Dr. Romero studied with him in Bordeaux and follows his steps very closely, she is a wonderful surgeon!

It is scientifically proven that the experience of a surgeon with an operation, e.g. the number of operations he has performed, or performs monthly, determines the rate of complications and the goodness of results. It may seem a simple thought but many patients do not know, or do not give it enough importance. The more experienced the surgeon the best results and the less complications their patients experience.

Many patients tell me "I want to be operated with laser" or " I want to be operated with laparoscopy". It is clear that a minimally invasive operation sounds more attractive than and old fashioned one, but, ¿who is the surgeon who will perform the operation? This is the key question.

This only pushes me forward to pursue my way of hyperspecialisation in laser surgery for BPH (Benign prostatic hyperplasia). To try to reach perfection in the execution of an operation, for the benefit of my patients.

Foreign visitors

I was lucky enough today to receive the visit in our theatre in Clinica CEMTRO of two Swiss urologists,
Dr. Matthias Zimmermann (University Hospital Zurich), Dr. Werner Hochreiter (Hirslanden Klinik) and a Spanish colleague from Vitoria, Dr. Guevara.

We did three GreenLight operations in patients with big prostates, that were smooth. Two of them were GreenLight Enucleations, another one was an anatomic vaporization of the prostate. A very interesting session as Dr. Hochreiter (smiling on my right side) developed years ago the Mushroom technique for enucleation followed by bloodless transurethral resection of the prostatic lobes, joined to the bladder neck by a small pedicle. A highly experienced man with a lot of experience in Holmium laser surgery as well as greenlight. We had very interesting conversations.

The patients did very well and were discharged the following morning, so I can rest this weekend for a change!