World Congress of Endourology, Munich, Germany

This week I traveled to Munich to participate in the World Congress of Endourology. I had to co-chair a session on Greenlight Laser Prostatectomy with Dr. Gerasimos Alivizatos.

There were also my friends Dr. Oliver Reich, Dr. Alexander Bachmann and Dr. Andreas Skolarikos.

It was a very interesting symposium with a lively discussion. I presented some new technical variations for big prostates, as the brand new GreenLEP (Greenlight Laser Enucleation of the prostate), that was welcomed with interest. I was also interviewed for the congress magazine.

I could only stay one day,  because I had the compromise to participate in a congress in Beirut.

Surgeries in Sofía, Bulgaria

This Sunday I traveled to Sofía in Bulgaria to operate with Dr. Iliya Kalchev. He is a young urologist who has invested in the creation of a private hospital in Sofía, the Hill Clinic, and is determined to lead the technological change in urology in his country. He is the first user of the Greenlight Laser in his country. I met him when he came to visit me in April. I was very impressed with the quality of his installations.

We operated four patients together and everything took place smoothly. We had a good chance to discuss surgical tips and tricks and strategies to avoid problems and perform good operations. One of the patients was operated under general anaesthesia and we could remove his catheter two hours after the operation. This caused a great impact in the hospital's personnel and to the patient himself!

Then we did a brief tour of Sofia by car, with a lot of traffic, but I could see Sofía is a wonderful city. I could only take this photo of the cathedral. Then we had dinner in a typical bulgarian restaurant. I then took a morning flight back to madrid on tuesday.

Visitor from France: Professor Georges Fournier

Today I received the visit of Prof. Georges Fournier, from University Hospital of Brest, France, accompanied by Rivier Dominique, from AMS.

Prof. Fournier is a very prestigious urologist specially known for his dedication to laparoscopy and prostate cancer. He was interested to see the two greenlight laser operations we had programmed for today.

We had a good chance to discuss the vaporization technique as well as the new Greenlight laser enucleation of the prostate technique I am working on that will surely become a popular topic of urological conversation during this year.

Trip to Bogotá, Colombia

From Panamá I flew to Bogotá, Colombia.

I first went to Clinica Colombia, a wonderful hospital belonging to Sanitas Interational, a very powerful organisation in Colombia.


There I performed three operations with Dr. Carlos Larios and the Hospital's urology team. All cases went fine and I was told that patients fared very well and left the hospital the following morning. The hospital wants to incorporate cutting edge technology and so they are very interested in this laser.


Later that night I did two presentations to other urologists from Bogotá interested in the laser treatment of BPH at the Hotel La Fontana. As we were a relatively small group we could comment all the aspects of the minimally invasive treatment of BPH in depth.

Then I went to Hospital Simón Bolivar, where I performed two operations with Dr. Alejandro Tarazona. Both cases were very demostrative and I could tell they were really interested in adopting the technology, which is unstoppable all over the world.


A fast trip to Bogotá, I did not have time enough to visit the city. I could not follow the recommendation of my colleague in Madrid. Dr. David Rendón, to go to the restaurant Andrés Carne de Res...but I could see that Bogotá is a very nice and quiet city, and I really look forward to coming back to this wonderful country to visit it in depth.

Trip to Panamá

I spent the last week travelling. I first went to Panamá, to perform live surgeries and to deliver presentations in two hospitals.

The first was Hospital Punta Pacífica, a wonderful hospital where a surgical session had been organised, the operations were retransmited to a room where many urologists attended.

I did three operations and between surgeries I did two talks, one on the Greenlight HPS laser,

and another one comparing different types of lasers for BPH.

The session was a success, but we finished quite late, as the second and third prostates were both very big. Operating big prostates takes longer. All patients did well postoperatively.

I also visited the Complejo Metropolitano de la Caja del Seguro Social, where unfortunately we could not operate due to technical problems, but where I had a chance to deliver two talks and project a video on surgical technique.


I was also interviewed for TV, I hope it becomes available on the internet soon, so I can add it here.

During this trip I was lucky enough to visit the Panamá Channel, a wonderful construction from 1914, constantly crossed by enormous cargo ships that avoid having to go all Around south America. The ships pay 300.000 USD each time they cross it, a very important source of income for the country. They are building a wider channel, to allow for building wider ships, as nowadays the cargo ships are tailored to the width of the channel, for obvious reasons.


All the urologists I met during this part of my trip were really nice and warm, and I had a great time. It was very hot and humid, but I really enjoyed getting to know the Panamá channel!!!

Visitors from Holland

This Thursday and Friday I received the visit of Dr. Frank D'ancona and Hans Langehuisen, from the University Hospital St. Radboud, from Nijmegen, Holland. They wanted to see how I perform the Greenlight HPS prostatic vaporization in patients with big sized prostates.

We had three patients scheduled, with prostates of 40, 80 and 160 grams, and they witnessed the three operations. I showed them a new technical variation I have been working on for some months, the localisation of the prostatic capsule to guarantee that the whole adenoma is completely removed.

In the photo, with Santiago (AMS), Patrick (AMS), Frank y Hans.

Two wonderful and interesting surgical sessions, and a great honour to receive the visit of two prominent european urologists.

Surgeries in Guayaquil, Ecuador

After reaching Guayaquil, I was picked up by Gustavo Pico, the pioneer of Greenlight in Guayaquil. He kindly hosted me in his house, and he invited me for lunch, "caldo de bola" and "Ceviche de camarón", really superb. We had to leave to the hospital really fast because Dr. Pico had organised a surgical session at the Hospital Kennedy Samborondón, that was being retransmitted to the other two hospitals from the Kenedy Group.

When we got to the hospital the patient was already anesthetised and the session started. I did two operations and we mantained a very interesting conversation with the attendees in the other two hospitals. I was really impressed with the organisation Dr. Pico put in the workshop.


Then we went to the Hospital Kennedy Alborada and we did some interviews with the press and local TV stations. The workshop was widely announced on TV news and we saw ourselves on TV the following day...



Then I gave a talk to a crowded room, and I finished the day really tired but happy.

The following day continued with the transmission of four operations that were very demostrtive, and I had the opportunity to discuss in depth all the technical details with Dr. Gustavo Pico.


Finally, Dr. Pico and myself celebrated with some champagne the success of the session and our new friendship, and he drove me to the airport, where I took a flight back to Madrid. It has been an intense week, full of interesting moments, new friends and a lot of surgery!

Surgeries in Quito, Ecuador.

I took a morning flight to Quito. In a couple of hours I was there, I got to the hotel and had some time to rest. Then I had a chance to chat with Dr. Cornejo and discuss his experience with the Greenlight before starting my conference at the Marriot Hotel in Quito, I was impressed with the attendance. I had a chance to meet many local urologists.

Then we went to the Hospital Metropolitano, with Dr. Alexis Costa and Dr. Cornejo, and we did two operations. They already had a lot of experience, with more than 100 operations, so I decided to show them advanced techniques, as how to localize the prostate capsule and enuclation plane. Everything was uneventful, but I had to rush to the airport again, as I had to fly to Guayaquil. That same evening we had to perform some operations.

This was a wonderful surgical session, in the company of new friends.

Surgeries in Lima, Perú

I departed to Lima early monday morning. I had planned to leave on Sunday, but the Air Comet flight was delayed. It was a very special trip, as the pilot was my brother Enrique. He invited me to see the take off from the cockpit. I learned a lot about planes and I was impressed to see how it is full of technology and how they follow strict protocols and constant verification in contact with air controllers from nearby airports. It was a great experience and I felt very proud to see my little brother piloting an aeroplane with such mastery.

He is passionate about planes since he was little and he fought hard to become a pilot. He is a champion!! I admire him deeply, he did a perfect landing!

Once in Lima, I went to the Marriot Hotel and then we drove to the Hospital El Golf, where we did two operations with Dr. Elvis Sueldo and Dr. César Quincot. Both were uneventful and they had a good chanobserved advanced techniques techniquestechnique.

After we finished the operations, we went to the headquarters of the Peruvian Urological Association, where I gave a talk on photoselective vaporization of the prostate with the Greenlight HPS laser in front of a numerous group of Peruvian Urologists, who were very interested in the technology.

Then we had a tipical dinner, a "piqueo criollo" with local refreshments. In Perú they dring Inca-Cola, a very nice soda that sells much more than Coke over here.

The following morning started early, we went back to the Hospital El Golf to do a third case and then we went to another Hospital, Santa Teresa, where we did two operations with Dr. Jorge Saldaña. He is a young urologist with an impressive spirit.

He really believes in pushing technology forward and has decided, like me, to write a blog to narrate his experiences.

Everything was uneventful without problems, although one of the prostates was very big and took a while to complete.

Then we went out for dinner to celebrate the success of the surgical sessions and I try the famous Peruvian Ceviche, with Pisco Sour, a local drink that Peruvians claim they make better than the Chilenians. They I went to sleep, as the time change is quite tough and I had to fly to Ecuador. I left Perú happy after the experience and grateful to these three wonderful urologists!!

Spanish Urological Association Annual Meeting

Today I drove to Valencia in the morning to participate in the Spanish Urological Association Annual Meeting, where I was invited to participate in a symposium on Greenlight laser treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia.


I had to give a talk on surgical technique, but some days prior to the symposium we decided it would be even more interesting if I covered the differences among different lasers used in urology for the treatment of BPH.

A very interesting session, as other centers presented very solid data supporting the use of this laser in public hospitals in Spain.

Then I went to have luch by the Malvarrosa beach, a wonderful paella. After that I drove back to Madrid, there was a horrible traffic jam, so I got home rather late. Tomorrow I wake up early because I depart to Lima, for a week of surgery in different hospitals in Perú and Ecuador.

Greenlight Turkish Users Meeting

This friday I flew to Istanbul in Turkey to lecture in front of a group of users of Greenlight in Turkey. The traffic was incredibly packed and slow, but I managed to reach a dinner by the bosphorus. The following day we celebrated the meeting. There we talked about surgical technique, how to optimize clinical results, tips and tricks and precautions to take...

En la foto con algunos participantes

Prof. Ali Riza Kural moderated the session. Apart from being a prestigious urologist, he is also an immense artist. I met him in a previous congress in Istanbul, and I became his fan number 1, he sings wonderfully. I scanned the CD cover, and I have found this video in Youbute with him singing, an exotic delight.

After the session there was a very nice dinner and then we jumped in a boat to navigate through the bosphorus. My camera and my limited knowledge of photography did not allow me to obtain better pictures but it was a magic night...The full moon, the illuminated bridge, the thousand musics coming from the palaces, the mosks.... a true wonderful experience I will never forget.