Home Again!!!
There just ain't no place like home.
I arrived back from the Southeastern Surgical Congress in Savannah, GA this evening, I thank God that the presentation went well, and that our paper was well received. I was quite nervous, but apparently it didn't show too badly. I had rehearsed the talk so many times prior to giving it, that I kind of went into autopilot mode. There were some amazing people at the meeting who have written or edited major textbooks on surgery. Presenting a topic in front of such an audience is a daunting undertaking, and I'm thankful to have done well. However, I suspect they all at some point or other in their lives have had a "first paper" to present and felt just as nervous.
Perhaps the most stimulating talk of the meeting was one given by Dr Ponsky on the future of surgery. He is famous for inventing the Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Tube, otherwise known as a PEG. He is working on techniques of doing surgery without external incisions. He showed a video put out by a group of Indian surgeons (India Indians as opposed to Canada Indians) in which they performed a human appendectomy by advancing a gastroscope into the stomach, creating a hole in the stomach, and then introducing the gastroscope into the abdomen through this gastric hole. They were then able to do an appendectomy, close the gastric hole, and deliver the appendix through the patient's mouth.
No one in the US has tried this technique on humans due to fears of the gastric hole reopening and then leaking into the abdomen. That would have the same consequences as a perforated gastric ulcer. However, I bet that down the road in my career we'll be doing a lot elective surgery such as appendectomies and cholecystectomies using such approaches. Eventually we'll either get it to be as safe as traditional methods, or else the public will demand it despite the slightly decreased safety.
So the meeting was a great experience and I learned a lot. However, I'm very thankful to have it all behind me now.
I arrived back from the Southeastern Surgical Congress in Savannah, GA this evening, I thank God that the presentation went well, and that our paper was well received. I was quite nervous, but apparently it didn't show too badly. I had rehearsed the talk so many times prior to giving it, that I kind of went into autopilot mode. There were some amazing people at the meeting who have written or edited major textbooks on surgery. Presenting a topic in front of such an audience is a daunting undertaking, and I'm thankful to have done well. However, I suspect they all at some point or other in their lives have had a "first paper" to present and felt just as nervous.
Perhaps the most stimulating talk of the meeting was one given by Dr Ponsky on the future of surgery. He is famous for inventing the Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Tube, otherwise known as a PEG. He is working on techniques of doing surgery without external incisions. He showed a video put out by a group of Indian surgeons (India Indians as opposed to Canada Indians) in which they performed a human appendectomy by advancing a gastroscope into the stomach, creating a hole in the stomach, and then introducing the gastroscope into the abdomen through this gastric hole. They were then able to do an appendectomy, close the gastric hole, and deliver the appendix through the patient's mouth.
No one in the US has tried this technique on humans due to fears of the gastric hole reopening and then leaking into the abdomen. That would have the same consequences as a perforated gastric ulcer. However, I bet that down the road in my career we'll be doing a lot elective surgery such as appendectomies and cholecystectomies using such approaches. Eventually we'll either get it to be as safe as traditional methods, or else the public will demand it despite the slightly decreased safety.
So the meeting was a great experience and I learned a lot. However, I'm very thankful to have it all behind me now.
posted by The Mad Hatter at 4:53 PM
3 Comments:
If I ever have my appendix or any other organ brought out through my mouth, I want to be very, very fast asleep. It is a fascinating idea though. It might be a little while before they do liver transplants that way though.
I'm glad your presentation went well. I wish my speech students realized the importance of practicing a speech. They try to go on autopilot without rehearsing.
Endoluminal surgery makes no sense conceptually. There is clearly no advantage to this over laparoscopic surgery while it introduces a whole series of potential new problems.
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