Surgeries in Castellón

This morning I woke up early to travel to Valencia. From there I took a car to go to Castellón, where I was invited to mentor a group of urologists. I did three PVPs in the morning session. The National Health Service in Castellón is starting to use PVP. After I finished, I went back to Valencia and from there back to Madrid and from there I took a plane to Lyon, France. Tomorrow I will wake up early again to participate in a course on HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) for prostate cancer.

Masterclass with Prof. Gastón

This saturday we had the privilege of hosting Dr. Gastón in Madrid. In this ocassion he came with the legendary Monique, his nurse, that is able to assist him and do the instrumentation as a scrub nurse at the same time. They have operated together for 20 years and they are maybe the best example of surgical excellence in urology. Watching them operate is like watching a ballet as they perform an impecable operation. He did three radical prostatectomies while we watched. I picked them up at the airport at 9 am and at 5.30 pm he had finished and had time to relax in the way back to the airport and Bordeaux.

Invitation to Egypt

Yesterday I received an invitation to participate in the Annual Course of the Egyptian Urological Association. This is one of the most prestigious congresses celebrated in the African continent. Egyptian Urology has produced a number of world class surgeons and urology gurus... I will lecture on Greenlight Photoselective Vaporization of the prostate. A nice challenge and a wonderful trip!

International Course at Fundació Puigvert

This morning I had to wake up early to take a plane to Barcelona, to participate at the Annual International Course organised by the prestigious Fundació Puigvert. My role was to moderate a live surgical session where Dr. Montlleó performed a Photoselective Vaporization of the Prostate with the 80 Watt KTP laser. After the training sessions I conducted at Puigvert, and after having operated 15 patients, she was able to perform a wonderful operation. We took the opportunity and we discussed in depth the advantages of this technique over conventional surgery in the treatment of BPH.



This has been an impressive course, world class surgeons were invited and the best technical resources were available. The conference room was totally silent, because there were two simultaneous operations being retransmitted and the attendees had the option of chosing what surgery and comments to listen. Also, to appreciate the surgeon's point of view in robotic operations, all attendees wore 3D goggles. An espectacular course!!!

Trip to Valencia to operate a colleague

Yesterday I went to Valencia to operate a colleague. A urologist and friend of mine who I mentored on the technique of Photoselective Vaporization of the Prostate. He has had a chance to experience the results of this operation in his own patients, and he asked me to fly to Valencia to operate him, and I did with pleasure. He has phoned today to tell me that he spent the night home after the operation, and that he is voiding well, will totally clear urine... It is a great honour to be asked by a colleague and friend to operate him.

Greenlight HPS

This video shows an endoscopic prostatectomy in a patient with a 60 gram prostate with the new 120 watt HPS grenlight laser. This laser has the same wavelenght than the 80 watt Greenlight KTP laser (532 nm), but is much more powerful. It vaporizes tissue at a higher rate and thus operative time is reduced. The Greenlight KTP laser is a wonderful tool, this new laser will be specially useful to treat bigger prostates.
This is a TRUS image of the prostate preoperatively.

And this is the postoperative aspect of the prostate. There is a huge central cavity showing that all BPH tissue has been removed.

European School of Urology Course in Albufeira, Portugal

This morning I participated at the ESU Course on minimally invasive treatments in urology, that took place during the Annual Congress of the Portuguese Urological Association. This has been my first contribution as a faculty member of the European School of Urology.

My task was to discuss the current status of minimally invasive treatments of benign prostatic hyperplasia. I have analized these options, as well as their pros and cons (TUMT, TUNA, ILC, intraprostatic Botox, TEAP, WIT, HoLap, HoLep, and so on). I also discussed in detail my experience with the Greenlight laser, and showed my experience with the new HPS laser. The meeting has been really interesting and many urologists showed up for the course. After our lectures, we had a relatively long and lively discussion.

The chairman of the session, Prof. Morgia, from Italy, in the left hand side of the photo below, spoke about the minimally invasive treatment of prostate cancer, including cryosurgery, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) and brachytherapy. Prof. Dimitri Pushkar, from Moscow, in the center of the photograph, spoke about urinary incontinence, he has a vast experience in lower urinary tract reconstruction in the female. He has operated more than 2000 urinary fistulas (!).

After the session, I only had time to enjoy lunch by the sea with my good friend Dr. Reis Santos, from Lisbon, and I had to rush to the airport, on my way back to Madrid.

Conference in Ireland

Yesterday I travelled to Ireland, I did a stop in Glasgow and from there I took a plane to Killarney, where the Annual Congress of the Irish Society of Urology is taking place. I was invited to lecture on my experience with the Greenlight KTP laser in the treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.




The congress took place at the Great Southern Hotel, at Killarney, a relatively remote place within Ireland. Unfortunately I did not have much time to visit the place as I have been at the scientific sessions.



It was fortunate though that I had a chance to see the famous cup "Sam McGuire" that is about 100 years old, and every year it is kept by the team winning the amateur ligue of Gaelic Football (an Irish old sport where the ball can be touched with the hands). This is also famous in Australia, with slightly different rules... One of the winners took it with him to the hotel and it was a great honour to be able to see and touch it. As I did not have my camera with me, I took a photo with my mobile...


It was also very interesting to see some good friends here, Dr. Killian Walsh and Dr. Bouchier-Hayes, and to have a chance to talk and meet prestigious local urologists and share our points of view... There are four centers in the country that offer Greenlight PV to their BPH patients. The Irish are very hospitalary and charming people....

Holidays are over

After a whole month resting in a quiet town in the north of Spain, I am back to work and with a lot of work. This wednesday I was invited to Valencia to operate a patient. The operation was uneventful and I got back home late due to Iberia's famous delays.... It is quite difficult to go back to work after enjoying the summer rest... Anyway, the year ahead looks very exciting and I guess it is just postvacational lazyness.

Surgery in Vienna

Today I have operated at the Urology department of the General Hospital in Vienna, invited by Prof. Marberger. This hospital is the biggest I have seen in my life. Apparently every day there are 70.000 people coming in and out the hospital, it has 50 surgical theatres and it employes 250 anaesthetists.... it is unbelievable, I had never seen anything like this. It is a huge place, a true health city.
The urology department is going to adopt the greenlight PVP (Photoselective vaporization of the prostate) technique, and I was invited to demonstrate the technique. I have operated three patients, two with relatively small prostates and one with a big gland and a huge median lobe. All three patients did really well. We also had time to talk slowly about the technical and scientifical issues about this technique. Tonight we will go out to dinner and although we thought we would operate also tomorrow, the session has been cancelled, apparently patients have suddenly decided they wanted to go on holiday... It is really hot in Vienna (35 degrees celsius), and they seem to have escaped heading north.
It was a great honour to be invited to operate at one of the best urology centers in the world, we will celebrate tonight dining in Vienna.

Second day in South Africa

This is my second day in South Africa. I visited Hospital Donald Gordon in Johannesburg, where we did three PVPs (photoselective vaporization of the prostate). The objective was to train two local urologists in this technique. As always, I started the first operation and then they took the initiative. All operations were uneventful and the outcome was satisfactory (so I am told, all patients did well postoperatively). Then I went to the airport to take a plane back to Madrid. This time my stay in South Africa was extremely short, there is no doubt I will try to come back...

Mentoring in South Africa

Again I went to Southafrica, this time to mentor two teams in Johannesburg. They are the first surgeons to offer the Greenlight PVP procedure in Africa. We went to Linkinsfield Park Hospital in Johannesburg to operate three patients.


I had the enormous honour of operating the first patient to be subjected to a PVP in the African continent... I shared this honour with Dr. Kevin Fisher, who finished the operation. After this first case, I helped Dr. Fisher to perform two operations that were very successful.

We will have dinner together tonight and tomorrow we will conduct a similar session in another hospital. Today the session was successful and everyone who saw the technique, anaesthetists, nurses, other surgeons, were very impressed by this technique.

In the news - Greenlight HPS

This clip appeared in the news after the presentation of the HPS greenlight laser in Madrid and the world experts summit.

We are on TV

This video was broadcasted by "Madrid Directo", a programme of the regional TV, TeleMadrid. It focuses in patient's experience of PVP. We operated him in the afternoon and he was discharged the morning after, so happy. Yesterday he phoned from the beach to say he was feeling great!!

Presentation of the HPS to the press and world experts summit

This weekend we presented the new HPS system to the Spanish press. We did it using the opportunity of the visit to Madrid of four renowned international experts in Greenlight Photoselective Vaporization of the prostate: Mr. Gordon Muir, from King's College Hospital, London; Dr. Shahin Tabatabei, from Massachussets General Hospital; Dr. Benjamin Choi, from Presbysterian Hospital, New York and Dr. Alex Bachmann, from the Basel University Hospital, Switzerland.


We all have a very broad experience in this operation, among the five of us, we have a combined experience of 3000 patients. The objective of their visit was to meet to carry out a surgical session where we would operate one patient each and use the opportunity to discuss technical aspects, strategies and tips and tricks of this surgical intervention. We wanted to share our points of view and reach a consensus on the best way of doing things. All surgeries were splendid and all patients recovered fast and went home very happy.


This saturday we gathered at the Institute of Advanced Urological Surgery in Madrid to establish a consensus on how this operation must be carried out, what to do and what to avoid, what are our recommendations on training residents and urologists, etc... We reached some conclusions that will be published in the form of one or two papers in an international Journal. It was a real pleasure to host these wonderful people and eminent urologists in Madrid. We have all enjoyed the opportunity to share our knowledge, and we think the papers that will come out of this meeting will be of great help as a guide for those urologists wanting to offer this treatment to their patients.

End of Puigvert training

At last we finished the training sessions for the urologists of Fundació Puigvert. From now on, they are on their own. I was there for a final session in theatres, I have received an invitation to participate at the International Congress they organise in October..

Interview for "La Razón"

Today, one of the most read Spanish Newspapers "La Razón" publishes an interview with me. I present the new Greenlight HPS system (HPS stands for High Performance System) for the first time in my country.

Masterclass with Dr. Gaston in Madrid

This saturday we received a visit from Dr. Richard Gaston, from Bordeaux. He came to visit as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Institute of Advanced Urological Surgery, from Madrid. We did three radical prostatectomies in one day, and then Dr. Gaston returned to Bordeaux at 7 pm. He is considered one of the best laparoscopists in the world, invented the technique of laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, and has performed more than 2000 procedures.

In the photo, Dr. Castillón, the director of the laparoscopy unit of the ICUA, assisting Dr. Gaston. This initiative allows our patients to access being treated by a world class surgeon, while we keep on learning from the best surgeon in Europe.

Invitation to Johannesburg in South Africa

I have also received the confirmation of an invitation to travel to South Africa to help in the training of three surgeons that will perform their first cases of PVP (Photoselective Vaporization of the prostate) with a Greenlight KTP laser. I will travel to Johannesburg from July 16th-19th. They have scheduled 10-12 operations. I guess this time there will be no time for safaris, just for intense work.

Invitation to a State of the Art Congress in Belgium

Today I received the programme of a scientific meeting where I have been invited as speaker. It will take place in November in Belgium. A great honour given the high scientific level of this meeting and the prestige of other speakers: Piechaud, Stolzenburg, Marberger, Emberton, Van Poppel, Dasgupta, etc... The interest of my presentation will be to present my initial results with the new HPS system in the treatment of BPH.