Partial nephrectomy course in Belgium

Again I travelled to Belgium to participate in another course with Dr. Alex Mottrie at the OLV Hospital in Aalst. This time It was a partial nephrectomy course.

I spent three intensive days in the course and I enjoyed it thoroughly, as I could see and do many robotic operations. Dr. Mottrie was trying a new system that allows to use 3D reconstructions of the anatomy of the patient based in their own imaging studies (CT Scan, MRI) offered by the company  Visible Patient.

These 3D reconstruction systems allow to plan the operations carefully and to increase their safety. It was definitely a wonderful course and three days of total immersion in robotic surgery, I love it!

Robotic work with Dr. Gaston in September

During the month of september, Dr. Gaston came to operate at  ICUA - Clínica CEMTRO twice, we operated two consecutive weekends several cases of prostate cancer as well as a partial nephrectomy with the Da Vinci Robotic System in a patient with a single kidney that went really well.

Despite the Da Vinci Robot is mainly known for its role in the treatment of prostate cancer, its role is paramount today for the treatment of kidney cancer, as it allows to perform complex partial nephrectomies with great safety, allowing for preservation of renal function.

It is a joy to see the patients recover after these robotic surgeries and to witness the excellent oncologic and functional results. I suppose the only drawback of the Da Vinci Robot is its cost. It is an expensive system and every time we operate the cost of the instruments is high, but I think it is no doubt a great advantage for the surgeon and the patients!

Participation in National Spanish TV presenting the Da Vinci Robotic System

Today we received at Clinica CEMTRO the visit of a live transmission team from Spanish National TV. They connected us to the program "La Mañana de la Uno" to present the Da Vinci Robotic System and comment on its usefulness to treat urologic conditions and specifically, in the surgical treatment of prostate cancer.

Participation in ERUS 2015 Congress in Bilbao

This morning I woke up early to travel to Bilbao and to spend the day at the ERUS 2015 congress on Robotic surgery in Urology. It was very well organized and it was extremely interesting to watch many surgeons performing live surgical retransmissions to the auditorium of the Euskalduna palace auditorium.

A congress with participation of urologists from ICUA, Dr. Estefanía Romero assisted Dr. Richard Gaston in a live surgery transmission.

Unfortunately I could not stay for the second day of the congress as we had been invited to participate in a live presentation in National TV of the Da Vinci surgical system and I had to return to Madrid.

GreenLEP training at Clinica Quirón in Barcelona

After the course on robotic surgery I flew to Barcelona to help Dr. Enrique Rijo, from the urology team at Clínica Quirón in Barcelona with his first steps with GreenLEP.

I love to work with colleagues who share the passion for what we do. Dr. Rijo is an enthusiast and is keen to learn.

As in every training session, we discussed all the details of the necessary instruments and morcellator.

Dr. Rijo had studied my videos and had visited me many times to see GreenLEP procedures, and he did a great job!

GreenLEP is an advanced technique, not easy, but perfectly teachable to a urologist with experience in vaporization and with desire to learn. I then returned to Madrid to rest a while. Dr. Rijo called later to tell me patients did very well afterwards.

Second part of the Da Vinci Robotic Surgical Course in Belgium

Again I went to ORSI-OLV in Belgium to complete another three days of advanced course of Robotic Surgery with the Da Vinci system.

There we had intensive work covering theoretical basis, surgery in cadavers and training models and attendance to the operating room at the OLV Hospital in Aalst.

It is really incredible to witness the amazing development that robotic surgery has experienced in the last years. Today it is possible to operate almost everything with robotic surgery!

I returned very happy, having learnt a great deal, to Madrid.

Surgeries in Alba, Italy

This time I went to Italy, specifically to the Hospital San Lazarus in Alba, to assist Dr. Fassolis with his training in anatomic vaporization of the prostate with the GreenLight laser. Dr. Fassolis has already got a great experience in prostate vaporization and he wanted to learn a couple of surgical tips and tricks to perform a proper anatomic vaporization.

We did three operations that went very well and I was happy to see how fast he learnt to perform the technique to perfection!

From Italy I departed to Brussels to participate in another advanced robotic surgical course at ORSI.

2 days of GreenLEP training in France

I started this season traveling to Strasbourg, where I reached a dinner with a group of local urologists where I gave a talk on laser for the treatment of BPH.

The following morning we went to Clinique Adassa, where they had prepared 5 patients to perform GreenLEP (Green Laser Enucleation of the Prostate) with my help. I assisted Dr. Weidmann and Dr. Faure to perform their first cases.

After finishing the surgical session, I drove to Montbeliard, where we had a similar plan for the following day. In the morning I went to Hopital Nord Franche Comté, in Montbeliard, where Dr. Atassi had prepared 8 patients to operate in two operating rooms during the day.

It was a tough session, we did not stop working all day.

Everything went well, and it was very clear that this is an advanced technique that can be taught and learnt with relative ease when there is previous experience with prostate vaporization and when the surgeon already has the basic skills and understanding of the physics to manipulate the green laser.

That night we went to the wonderful Museum Peugeot, where we had dinner and also I gave a talk on laser and BPH to the attending urologists.

The next morning I woke up early and returned to Madrid to rest!