Originally posted November 5, 2016

This time I participated in Madrid in a meeting on the Guidelines of the EAU organized by Dr. Ignacio Moncada who kindly invited me to participate.

We discussed the European Guidelines in the management of BPH with other spanish experts in BPH.

I expressed my opinion that guidelines are a very good orientation tool but they have limitations and of course they are too "politically correct". The guidelines still say that there are two options of management of big sized prostates, endoscopic enucleation of the prostate and open prostatectomy. Then it states that open prostatectomy has an elevated morbidity.

I think they should be a little bit more brave to say things as they are. Nowadays in my opinion it is not ethical to submit patients to open prostatectomy when we have much less invasive options equally efficacious and the guidelines should encourage urologists worldwide to learn these new techniques and not contribute to keep a situation that has no sense today.

Open prostatectomy was first performed in 1808 and in many centers in the world it keeps happening exactly the same. Gentlemen, we now live in 2016!

Originally posted November 4, 2016

This time I went to Fundació Puigvert in Barcelona to participate in the Masterclass in Lasers organized by the European School of Urology.

My role was to give two talks and to perform a live surgical procedure to broadcast to the main auditorium.

During the course Dr. Liatsikos invited me to join the faculty of the ESUT (European School of Uro-Technology) and I accepted willingly.

In the meeting I said that to me it is unethical to continue to do open prostatectomy for BPH when there are techniques that are much less aggressive and equally effective and that despite TURP is the most common treatment for BPH it is no longer the best. ¡There were strong reactions in Twitter!

Originally posted October 30, 2016

This time we received as visiting urologist Dr. Rodrigo Melogno, who spent with us two weeks, attending the operating room sessions including one robotic session with Dr. Richard Gastón (in the photo) and who could witness around 34 laser procedures including GreenLight and Holmium enucleation procedures, as well as robotic procedures.

He returned home quite convinced of the endoscopic enucleation of the prostate and specially of the En bloc enucleation, a fast and extremely safe operation for the patients.

It was a pleasure to have you with us Rodrigo!

Originally posted October 19, 2016

As every month, we received visitors today who wanted to witness the techniques we carry out for our patients with benign prostate hyperplasia with the GreenLight laser.

It was very interesting to comment on the different aspects of this surgery, the anatomic vaporization and GreenLEP procedure. We love to receive visitors! it is always a pleasure to make new friends and I always learn from all of them.

Originally posted September 30, 2016

In this occasion I participated in a round table on lasers in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with my residency colleagues Dr. Francois Peinado and Dr. Manuel Fernández Arjona.

It was a pleasure to be with them. As we had to be controverted I said it is inmoral that there are still open prostatectomies for BPH being made when there are minimally invasive techniques as the endoscopic laser enucleation. There was much discussion. I think urologists must open their eyes and abandon for good open prostatectomy and start learning how to do an endoscopic enucleation.

Originally posted September 29, 2016

Today we received the visit of Dr. Porto, from Montevideo, who came to our operating room to witness surgical procedures with us. I really loved to see his devotion for urology and learning. A big example, he stayed with us to see surgeries until very late!

It is always a pleasure to receive the visit of friends!

Originally posted September 23, 2016

We are very happy to incorporate a new AIRSEAL insuflation system in our operating room. From now on we will use it in all robotic and laparoscopic operations.

We are also happy as we will become reference center for this technology in Spain and we will receive the visit of all surgeons and urologists who want to see how it works.

It is basically a very sophisticated insuflator that adds enormous advantages in safety for the patient and for the surgeons.

We are very grateful to Clinica CEMTRO for their support in the adoption of this technology. We are always compromised with excellence and offering the best to our patients.

Originally posted September 22, 2016

Despite I am traveling less nowadays, to be able to devote myself to my patients and due to my heavy dedication now to robotic surgery, I still participate in international meetings to demonstrate the laser techniques for the treatment of BPH.

This time I was invited to perform a live demonstration of a Green Laser Enucleation of the Prostate at the congress Technology and Training in Endourology 2016.

This operation is becoming popular in Europe after my publication in the Journal of Endourology describing the technique and how to learn it.

It was a nice day in the company of many international friends.

Originally posted July 20, 2016

We had a surgical session and we received the visit of Dr. Kris Maes, a Belgian urologists recognized for his expertise in Robotic Surgery who works in Lisbon.

We could comment the different techniques, the scientific basis and the surgical tricks of Green laser surgery

As always, Green laser enucleation results very surprising to those who see it, we had a great time together and it is always a pleasure to share with colleagues!

Originally posted June 22, 2016

As every month, we receive visitors to witness operations with the GreenLight laser. In these sessions I demonstrate to my colleagues from other hospitals the different techniques I developed for Green Laser prostatectomy, anatomic vaporization and En bloc GreenLEP.

I recommend the stepwise strategy to learn that I published in the World Journal of Urology )free access) It is also paramount to use the proper instruments, specifically designed to perform mechanical enucleation.

Originally posted June 5, 2016

This time I was interviewed by Teresa Viejo in her program "La Observadora"..

You might want to listen to it in Spanish here.

Originally posted June 3, 2016

This time I travelled to Gran Cnaria to participate in a course, directed to family physicians on BPH and sexual life, organized by Dr. Juarez del Dago, from the Gabinete de Urología at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, at the building of theMedical college of Las Palmas.

My contribution was to talk on BPH and sexual function and discuss the impact of medical and surgical treatment on sexual function.

It was a pleasure as always to visit Gran Canaria, and to spend time with my friend, Dr. Juarez del Dago.

Originally posted May 31, 2016

This year I was invited again to the congress "Challenges in Endourology" in Paris. This time my role was to perform a surgical procedure that would be retransmitted live to the auditorium, where more than 600 urologists worldwide witnessed the live surgery session.

I performed a GreenLight laser enucleation while other surgeons performed enucleations with alternative energy sources.

What seems to be quite clear at this time is that the Gold Standard for BPH is endoscopic enucleation of the prostate, and that very likely there will be only minor differences among energy sources.

Also there was a quite unanimous opinion that the best morcellator in the market is the Piranha system, specially with the fast Vmax blades.

Soon the live videos will be available at the website of Challenges in Endourology. It is already possible to see past years live procedures.

Originally posted May 6, 2016

This time I travelled to San Diego, USA, to participate at the Annual Congress of the American Urological Association, as faculty of the course on Green Laser surgery for BPH treatment.

The director of the course is Prof. Henry Woo, from Sydney, Australia, and also Dr. Oliver Reich, from Munich, Germany, participates.

My role in the course was to talk about the new surgical techniques I developed, anatomic vaporization and endoscopic enucleation with the Green Laser.

These techniques are gaining popularity in Europe, specially in Italy and France, as I devoted a lot of time and trips to popularize them, and slowly they are being adopted in other countries. There was a lot of participation in the course.

It was a great honor to participate in these courses, in the most important urology congress in the world.

Originally posted March 21, 2016

At last our paper reflecting our initial experience with the US-MRI fusion transperineal prostate biopsy has been published online.

We pioneered this technology in Spain and the experience we have obtained since its implantation just confirms that we are in the right track and that this diagnostic protocol for prostate cancer diagnosis improves a lot what we were doing with transrectal biopsies of the prostate, both in terms of diagnostic yield as well as with regards to patient safety.

Every year the European Association of Urology celebrates its annual congress, one of the most important urological events worldwide, with more than 12000 urologists attending from all over the world. In this occasion it was celebrated in Munich, Germany.

This time I was invited to operate in the ESUT session (European School of Uro Technology) where operations were transmitted to the main auditorium of the congress. I had to perform an en-bloc green light enucleation in a man with a 110 g prostate.

Con el Dr. Straub y el Dr. Maisch, antes de la intervención

The operation went really well, and was later transmitted to the main auditorium which was full. I felt really well, after so many years of very hard work, so much sacrifice and dedication, to be able to show a surgical technique that I have developed over many years in the most important forum in urology in Europe... it was a really fulfilling sensation and a moment of personal culmination that I really enjoyed.

I was also very happy to know that more and more surgeons are using this technique successfully, specially in France. I like to think that my small contribution can influence positively the lives of patients who I will never know, further than those that I can treat personally.

The following day Dr. Straub confirmed that the patient was recovering perfectly. And the congress moved on...

On Saturday night I participated in a session where the new iTIND device for the treatment of BPH was presented. The room was full and it generated a lot of interest. In my talk I reflected on the place this device can have in the treatment of BPH and the kind of patient that can benefit from its use.

The next day I participated in a session of troubleshooting in endoscopic procedures for BPH and I spoke about morcellation problems. It was a very lively session, the room was also full.

This session's webcast can be seen in the congress website www.eaumunich2016.uroweb.org

With this my participation in the EAU congress came to an end, although still Dr. Rijo will present today a surgical video on En Bloc GreenLEP that we both sign. I was helping him with his first steps with this technique and he produced a wonderful didactic video. He is a computer genius and he did a great job!

In summary, an excellent congress!!

Originally posted February 5, 2016

This time I went to Milan to perform a surgical demonstration at Ospedale San Rafaele Turro in Milan, invited by Dr. Franco Gaboardi.

They do a lot of Holmium laser surgery and are great specialists in this area, but they were curious to see the GreenLight laser in action and in particular the anatomic vaporization and en bloc enucleation techniques that I described.

First I gave a talk in the department to explain the physics of Green lasers and then I operated four patients, performing two anatomic vaporizations and two enucleations.

The session went very well and the operations were fast and I could return earlier than expected to Madrid.

Dr. Silvia Proietti, urologist from the department tweeted this a little while later:

And she told me that patients fared very well postoperatively.

Originally posted January 22, 2016

Today I participated in the second update day on BPH organized by the urology department at clinica la Luz in Madrid.

I gave a talk on the new iTIND device for the treatment of BPH and then I performed two operations that were transmitted to the meeting room, a Green laser enucleation of the prostate and an implantation of a temporary nitinol device (iTIND).

Everything went very well. I congratulate the organizers for a very well organized course!

Originally posted November 26, 2015

This time I travelled to Barcelona to operate at Clinica TEKNON with Dr. Batista. It was a patient with high surgical risk and a big prostate that we operated uneventfully.

The laser endoscopic enucleation of the prostate is a fantastic treatment option for BPH due to its low risk and high efficacy.

Originally posted November 24, 2015

Again I was invited to participate in the national TV program "Saber Vivir".

This time I presented the Da Vinci Robotic System and we explained how it works and what is it useful for. This robot has really revolutionized urologic surgery and specially the treatment of urologic cancers that affect prostate, bladder and kidney.

This program can be seen in this link.

For more information on Robotic Surgery, our robotic surgery website is www.icirugiarobotica.com.