Dear Colleagues
This XII Annual International Course on Flexible Ureteroscopy will be held , as usual, at Cristo Re Hospital in a National Tertiary Referral Center on June 27\28, 2019 . The Course is for a limited number of Urologist who like to actively participate in a small-group intimate learning setting in order to draw maximum benefit from inter-generational skills transfer offered by renowned local and international experts in the field, with 2-3 decades of experience and a proven track record.
Semi-rigid Ureteroscopy, Flexible Uretero-Renoscopy and combinations with Percutaneous Surgery have all undergone a sea change, particularly during this millennium, driven principally by changes in instrumentation, energy sources, accessories, and the recent introduction of master-slave robotic flexible instrument tele-manipulation.
With this in mind, this Annual Course in the magnificent city of Rome aims to present a didactic step-by-step guide to access and manage all upper urinary tract pathology by natural orifice surgery. In addition, combination and percutaneous techniques will also be discussed and demonstrated. Lecture topics will provide state of the art information on specific aspects of instruments, accessories, energy sources and techniques, as well as the role and control of intra-renal pressure for optimal patient safety, and the prevention and management of complications related to the procedure.
Information presented in the lectures will be re-enforced with daily sessions of hands-on training (HOT) with 4 work-stations each managed by an eager young tutor, and which will involve a competitive element that will lead the winner on the first evening to join a senior expert in the operating room on the second day (Endo-Olympics Competition). Lecture teaching will be further augmented by panel discussions and expert-led live or semi-live surgical procedures, which will also demonstrate both basic and cutting edge techniques, show the proper use of instruments and of accessories and energy sources, thus providing a basis for continual expert moderated discussion with participants. This year, we will also include a new discussion session entitled “Devils Advocate” examining controversial and evolving areas of approach, technique or practice.
Younger participants – residents in training will further benefit from presenting their own real-life challenging cases in English, and have a problem-based learning and expert opinion based discussion with faculty.
The Course’s enduring popularity lies in our aim to teach a working method focusing on patient’s safety and to foster close interaction between participants and delegates by limiting participant numbers, so early registration is very much encouraged, both for course participation and for the very popular HOT training in order to have an opportunity to reach the OR.
We very much look forward to greeting you in Rome in June 2019
Yours sincerely
Lorenzo Defidio and Anup Patel
