The innovative surgical techniques now applied in general surgery, bariatrics, urology, orthopedic surgery and spine surgery were presented and discussed between surgeons of the Medical Trans-Balkan and their distinguished colleagues – members of the Gray Turner Surgical Society of London -, in context of the meeting on the theme “Meeting of the Gray Turner Surgical Society, held in the auditorium of the Trans-Balkan Medical Center of Thessaloniki.

“Today we have the pleasure of hosting the British Gray Turner Surgery Club. a group of 12 surgeons from London of various specialties who visited the Trans-Balkan Medicine. We have the opportunity to discuss all the innovative techniques in various specialties of general surgery and we had the pleasure of listening to presentations by surgeons of Transbalkan Medicine. We referred to various innovative surgical techniques mainly in the use of robotic platforms and the Da Vinci platform that we now systematically use in Transbalkan Medicine, but we also talked about robotic techniques in orthopedic surgery or spine surgery with surgical platforms that we have the pleasure of systematically using in Our center. Of course, apart from the strictly scientific discussion and presentation, we also talked with the British surgeons about the well being role of surgeons in today’s society. It is an issue that we have been dealing with intensively over the last two years and it is of great concern and has been mentioned by British colleagues“said the chairman of the event’s organizing committee, surgeon Manos Pramateutakis, specialized in colon surgery, speaking to the journalists.

Colon surgery is now laparoscopic and robotic

Mr. Pramateutakis pointed out that colon surgery has developed as a subspecialty quite a lot in the last 20 years, mainly due to the rapid increase in the incidence of colon cancer, especially in younger or younger ages. He noted that colon cancer remains the third most common cancer in both men and women, after lung cancer and breast cancer.

“Surgical techniques have evolved tremendously. Now all operations for colon oncology, and not only, are performed either laparoscopically or robotically, with the possibility for patients to be mobilized very quickly and also to leave the hospital within two or three days of the operation, which is the more important both for them to return to their social life and for candidates for post-operative treatment to start as early as possible” pointed out Mr. Pragavtakis.

The MoLEP operation for prostatic hyperplasia

“Prostatic hyperplasia is a condition that affects at least 50% of men over the age of 50. When this condition reaches the point where a surgical solution is needed, technology now plays a very important role, especially the MoLEP operation, which is performed with the best laser we currently have in our hands, the Moses. The operation consists of enucleating the prostate adenoma using this laser and gives a definitive solution to the patients’ problem. It helps us overcome problems such as bleeding. It is used in large adenomas which previously could only be treated with an open surgical approach and in the end the patient can be discharged within a day, often on the same day, and return to his activities. It is a very big development and we are very satisfied at the end of the day about the work we do for the patient» pointed out the urologist, director of the B Urological Clinic of the Transbalkanic Medical Center, Andreas Andreou.

Bariatric surgeries are now laparoscopic and robotic

The bariatric surgeon of the Trans-Balkan Medical Center, Ilias Sdralis, spoke about the developments in bariatric and metabolic surgery.

Mr. Sdralis noted that the Clinic for Morbid Obesity and Metabolic Disorders of Transbalkan Medicine has been certified as a Clinic of Excellence in bariatric and metabolic surgery, while he himself has been certified as a surgeon of excellence in this field.

“We offer quality services, which ensure excellent pre-operative preparation of patients, very correct based on protocols and international guidelines, post-operative follow-up and therefore their quality of life. We offer new technologies, new methods, we follow research protocols, which are constantly evolving in the field of bariatric and metabolic surgery. These methods are based on basic principles that we have already known for many years. Because the data is constantly evolving, there are interventions that have left the foreground, that were adopted in the past, due to reduced effectiveness or complications that appeared in patients. We have adopted newer methods by calculating data based on the anatomy of patients and based on their eating habits, so that we can offer surgical treatment and new methods modified on the basis of the old ones, which have better results in terms of weight loss, but will pronounce much better quality of life, but without the complications of the older bariatric operationssaid Mr. Sdralis.

At the same time, he pointed out that now all bariatric surgeries are now performed laparoscopically and robotically. “Robotics in the current phase in terms of bariatric surgery lags a little behind in terms of technical infrastructure, because it has quite large technical requirements due to the size of the patients and therefore the corresponding dimensions that the arms of a robotic surgery must have, but at this point it must to say that we are in constant development to adapt these requirements and technology for these data. We are on a very good path, the technology and support of Medical Group and Medical Transbalkanis is clear, strong and helps us to do our work more safely.added Mr. Sdralis

Paul Leeder, a surgeon in Derby, Great Britain, honorary secretary of the GreyTurner Surgical Society for his part said:It is an honor to be here as a guest at this 73rd annual meeting of our surgical group. We first started right after WWII. We are a group of UK surgeons who have come together to improve surgical education and practice. We visit centers in the UK and around the world to share ideas and improve treatment and patient management across all areas of general surgery».

The group of 15 British Surgeons, after the completion of the conference, will remain in Thessaloniki to observe laparoscopic and robotic surgery operations carried out in the state-of-the-art operating rooms of the Transbalkanic Medical Center of Thessaloniki by its specialized doctors.