EURO-NOTES 2009 Report
The 3rd joint European NOTES workshop was held in Barcelona in the month of September. As in previous years, the workshop provided a unique platform where surgeons, gastroenterologists and industry meet to discuss the present challenges of NOTES clinical implementation. The success of the Barcelona edition exceeded all expectations, both in turnout and in quality of the presentations, sparking lively debates in most sessions.
Key experts in the fields of surgery and gastroenterology presented their experiences in NOTES implementation, including the recent approach by SILS. In addition, problems and possible solutions related to clinical practice were discussed in the working groups.
The novel industry forum, was a very successful initiative to promote a fruitful debate with the industry about the latest innovations in stapling, imaging, energy and robotics and the importance of coordinating efforts if NOTES and SILS are to become a reality in everyday practice.
Additionally, attention was dedicated to the implementation of a European registry, as well as to the taxonomy of NOTES procedures.
A special session was dedicated to the presentation of the conclusions of the studies funded by the Olympus Research Fund Project, yielding some very interesting results.
In view of the above, we can only conclude that the success of the EURO NOTES meeting is an undeniable proof of the importance of NOTES in present surgery, and that the joint/coordinated approach is the only one possible to make NOTES move forward.
Ethicon Research Fund project winners in Brussels.