Ethicon’s first UK & Ireland Colorectal Symposium took place on 25 & 26 November with 20 internationally-renowned speakers and more than 50 guests gathering at a conference centre close to Stansted Airport for two days of discussions on the colorectal specialty.
The event was chaired by Prof Tan Arulampalam and Prof Tim Rockall, with guest speakers from around the world including Prof Pieter Tanis from Amsterdam, Prof Luigi Boni from Milan and a presentation by Johnson & Johnson’s Human Performance Institute in Florida.
The event got underway with a Scientific Committee on “Clinical Advancements in Colorectal Surgery”, with guest speakers invited to stand on the red dot in the centre of the room and address delegates on all sides of the room.
Deena Harji presented on the factors that influence the choice between laparoscopic and open surgery. Sharmila Gupta on “When to Operate on Chromes”, Ben Griffiths on “Stenting in Modern Management of colorectal cancer”, Chelliah Selvasekar on “Advancements in Training in colorectal surgery” and Mary Venn from ESCP with an update on the Eagle Study.
Monday also saw training workshops and information from the charity, Bowel Cancer UK, as well as keynote talks from Professor Pieter Tanis from the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam and from Raphaela O’Day from Johnson & Johnson’s Human Performance Institute – who spoke about mindset, stress and the human factors that can influence surgical success.
On Tuesday 26, discussions on digital innovation took centre stage, with a second Scientific Committee. Richard Brady talked about social media in the colorectal community, Professor Shafi Ahmed took the delegates through the latest virtual and digital developments in surgery, Jim Khan spoke about “Rectal Cancer Management in the era of Digital Surgery”, and Miles Parkes held a talk on the “Digital Innovation Hub and Bioresources for IBD”.
A third Scientific Committee saw talks on “Innovation and the Role of NICE” from Karen Nugent, “Regulation and Commissioning” from Mike Machesney, “FIT for Symptomatic Patients” from Baljit Singh and “Two Week Rule pathways” from Iain Jourdan.
After a further digital innovation workshop, including a chance to get hands-on with Virtual Realty surgery, the final talk cam from Professor Luigi Boni from Milan, with a whistlestop tour through the latest technology in colorectal surgery.