It’s the conference of the season – in Potsdam, Germany. This conference which includes lectures by the leading experts along with live surgery demonstrations with dry and wet labs is designed to address pitfalls and problems that surgeons may encounter when using the newer uniportal VATS techniques.
If you’ve wanted to learn about uniportal VATS – this is the class to do it! If you want to sharpen your minimally invasive techniques – this course has the full lab experience. Learn with the experts – and exchange ideas with your peers.
Thoracics.org will be there as part of an on-going research project this summer.
Potsdam VATS 2019 basic information:
Date of course: June 13th – 15th, 2019
Location: the Villa Bergmann in Potsdam, Germany
Cost: 500 euros for lecture and live surgery
1,600 euros for full course including labs (limited space availability)
Out of all of the topics covered here at Thoracics.org – one of the most popular topics among surgeons and surgical residents is minimally invasive surgery – uniportal, in particular. There is a steady stream of inquiring readers wanting to know more – about the data, the current evidence, and state of uniportal surgery. There is also a flood of inquiries on where to obtain training in these minimally invasive techniques. With the annual VATS International conference, attendees can have it all – access to the leaders in the field, while listening and participating in (sometimes) heated discussions on evidence based data, surgical outcomes and relevant research. This year, the conference moves out of merry ole England, and over to Italy. This year, the conference is being held in Monza, outside of Milan on September 28 – 29th.
Dr. Diego Gonzalez Rivas at VATS International 2017
It continues to be the best of all of the available surgical conferences for thoracic surgeons, with the opportunities to learn from the masters themselves, in the surgical lab that accompanies live surgery, panel discussions and formal presentations.
The fourth VATS International Symposium is this October 20th – 21st, 2017. As readers know, this course has been highly recommended in the past by Thoracics.org.
The preliminary program has been released, and it looks like audience favorite and straight shooter, Eric Lim will be opening the conference.
Italian thoracic surgeon, and the inventor of the first uniportal VATS procedure, Dr. Gaetano Rocco, along with the prominent American surgeon, Dr. Robert Cerfolio will also be presenting. There will be several presentations comparing uniportal VATS with robotic assisted surgical techniques (RATS). But this is more than an academic discussion – in addition to notable speakers, the conference includes live cases, practical tips and hands-on training.
Representatives from Storz will be speaking to thoracic surgeons on caring, repairing and maintaining thoracoscopic equipment. There are still spaces available for attendees, including the state-of-the-art wet lab. This wet lab offers surgeons the opportunity to try new techniques using 3-D models, while proctored by leaders in the field.
If you can only attend one thoracic surgery conference, shortlist VATS International.
Attendees with Dr. Marco Scarci (2nd from the left)
VATS International
VATS International (previously known as Cambridge VATS) is the brainchild of Mr. (Dr.) Marco Scarci. The Italian surgeon recently made the switch from NHS Papsworth (Cambridge) to the historic Royal London Hospital. Each year, Dr. Scarci gathers the world’s specialists on minimally invasive surgery to meet here in the United Kingdom to share knowledge and practice techniques for traditional VATS, uniportal approaches (standard and subxyphoid) and robotic surgery.
This is the third year of the conference and it’s reputation for dynamic speakers and controversy continues. With over 100 attendees, and a wide range of global participation as well as live surgery sessions and a wet lab, Dr. Scarci has had runaway success despite some last-minute challenges posed by his recent defection from the Cambridge facility. (Having met several members of the rather staid and traditional thoracic surgery department at Cambridge, Dr. Scarci, with his emphasis on minimally invasive surgery, is undoubtedly better-suited to the London-based facility).
Excellent lecture content, dynamic speakers
There were several excellent speakers, making it difficult to narrow the selections for presentation here. The obvious standout was Dr. Lim, (as discussed in a previous post).
As one of the course directors, and the inventor of the uniportal approach, Dr. Diego Gonzalez Rivas gave several lectures on the technique aspects of uniportal VATS.
Dr. David Waller followed up with a lecture entitled “Intra-operative problems in VATS lobectomy: Avoidance and Management.” He discussed complicating patient factors such extensive adhesions, anthrocotic lymph nodes, anatomical variance and incomplete fissures that increase the complexity of uniportal cases. He also identified common surgical problems such as difficulty identifying the target lesion, development of large air leaks and inadvertent damage to hilum or bronchus with strategies to prevent & manage these issues. He reviewed surgical techniques on bleeding control/ major vascular injury as well as absolute indications for surgical conversion such as equipment failures, airway injuries and stapler jams. In closure, he also warned against using conversion rate as an outcome measure. It was a fairly dry lecture despite being an interesting and important topic.
Among the remaining speakers, the overwhelming theme of change, and evolution along with an underlying sense of defiance continued. These surgeons are here to discuss, learn and practice uniportal surgery even if more traditional surgeons don’t approve.
Some of the best presentations were:
Dr. Alan Sihoe, (Hong Kong) gave a modified lecture called “Reasons not to perform uniportal VATS lobectomy”. This lecture which was adapted from a previous lecture from last year’s conference also addressed criticism of uniportal VATS. He reviewed the existing literature on uniportal surgery which suggests that uniportal surgery is a safe alternative to other surgical approaches.
Dr. Alan Sihoe
During the lecture, Dr. Sihoe encouraged surgeons to move past case reports to performing higher level research such as randomized control studies to create evidence in the area of uniportal surgery. He also encouraged participation in the European database, to gather prospective data on uniportal surgery. Until there is a larger body of literature utilizing higher levels of evidence, uniportal surgery will continue to face significant (and justifiable) criticism as a fad procedure. While it wasn’t a ground-breaking lecture by any means, it was also a reminder for thoracic surgeons to think like a researcher. It was a good follow-up on Dr. Lim’s opening lecture.
Dr. Gaetano Rocco (Italy).
Dr. Rocco, one of the pioneers of the uniportal approach, continued the discussion of the need for evolution and adaptation but with a different approach in a talk entitled, “VATS major pulmonary resection for (very) senior surgeons. He extended an olive branch to older, experienced thoracic surgeons with limited experience with VATS. His lecture discussed the ways to remediate older surgeons, and build their skills and comfort level in performing VATS procedures. His lecture offered a clear-cut and concrete , step-wise curriculum and self-assessment tool for surgeons looking to improve their VATS skills, starting with VATS lobectomy.
Dr. Gaetano Rocco (left)
Dr. Ali Khan (India) delivered two lectures, the first on operating room technology, but it was the second on uniportal surgery for inflammatory and infectious diseases that really piqued my interest. Part of this is due to my interest in the surgical treatment of tuberculosis, and my great appreciation for empyema as a surgical disease. Most readers know that reducing the time from presentation/ diagnosis of empyema to surgical decortication is one of my goals in daily practice, so any reminder that the morbidity/ mortality of decortications have been greatly reduced by minimally invasive surgery is always welcome.
Dr. Ali Khan
Honorable mention: Dr. Alex Brunelli, “Fast track enhanced recovery for MITS”. Basically a talk on care plans with specific markers for timely progression and discharge. While this is standard fare for nurses, the use of care plans for many surgeons is unfamiliar territory. It would have been nice if the care plans were available as a handout for surgeons who are still fine-tuning their own programs. It also would have been nice for a better breakdown of how specific items reduced the length of stay (how/ how much) or decreased the rate of complications. Nice to mention care plans but better to have measurable and specific examples.
After the extensive lecture series on the first day of the conference, the second day was devoted to live surgery cases and the practice lab.
Wet Lab
Since animal research of any kind is tightly controlled in the United Kingdom, 3D printed models were used for the wet lab portion of the course.
3D model of thoracic cavity
This is the first time that this type of model has been used. While the green plastic housing looks rudimentary, on closer inspection of the ’tissue’ inside, one gets a better appreciation for the models. The tissue is soft, and sponge-like. The lung doesn’t inflate but appears more lifelike than other models.
I don’t have the patience or temperament to shoot video footage, but I did record a couple of seconds so readers could have an idea what the wet lab portion of the course is like. In the video, Dr. Sihoe is instructing two trainees on the proper technique.
Despite its relative youth, VATS International remains one of the best conferences on minimally invasive surgery, inferior to none. This conference is highly recommended and considered superior to many of the traditional conferences on the topic (such as the annual Duke conference), due to lecture content on timely topics and controversial issues. The hands-on wet lab and participation by internationally recognized and globally diverse speakers makes this conference more valuable to attendees looking for exposure to newer surgical techniques.
Thoracics.org 2017 wish list
What would I like to see next year? As mentioned above, VATS International is one of the better courses available for surgeons interested in uniportal, subxyphoid and other minimally invasive techniques. But there is still more content I’d like to see – on nonintubated and awake surgery, for example.
However, with regards for this year’s speaker, an anesthesiologist from Papsworth Hospital, this topic would be better covered by one of the “masters” of the field; Dr. Eugene Pompeo of the Awake Surgical Group or Drs. Hung & Chen. The “Papsworth Experience” per se is limited to heavy sedation/ general anesthesia without mechanical ventilation. Patients still have LMAs and are heavily sedated. One of the main benefits of nonintubated anesthesia is the ability to operate on the medically fragile. It would be enlightening to hear more about operating on this population from more experienced clinicians. One of the topics that has been essentially ignored in the literature on this topic, is the implications for thoracic surgeons, anesthesiologists, operating room and recovery room staff on operating on this population of sicker patients. I think readers would like to hear about the new challenges in managing patients that were previously inoperable due to serious co-morbidities.
A discussion on developing or actualizing a formal certification process with examination for minimally invasive surgery with suggested curriculum, and case log requirements would be a nice addition. Blackmon et al. published a credentialing guideline but it’s a multi-part overly complex document full of “levels” of competency. I’d like to see a discussion on the development of an actual certification to be offered by a surgical licensing body or surgical society. Since the American agencies would probably take another 20 years to consider the idea, perhaps one of the guest speakers’ native society would be more willing to take on this project?
I’d also like to see at least a limited amount of content on esophageal surgery. I know, I know..While practice areas for thoracic surgeons vary around the globe, with the rapid rise in esophageal cancer, a lecture on the role of minimally invasive surgical techniques for esophageal surgery would be a great addition to the current roster of topics, particularly if it was given by one of the modern masters of esophageal surgery like Dr. Benny Weksler or Dr. Roy Chen.
Lastly, one of the most enjoyable aspects of this conference is the truly international flavor. Watching a surgeon from Israel demonstrate uniportal techniques from a practice site in Shanghai brings home the importance of global collaboration. Hearing surgeons from India, Brazil, France and Canada present data on their practices is critical to gain perspective, and exchange ideas. It also helps prevent attendees from falling into the trap of “we’ve always done it this way.” This concept could be expanded to include designated global snapshots, to highlight research or data in specific geographic areas, like Dr. Khan’s lecture on uniportal approaches for infectious and inflammatory disease.
A full lecture on cost containment techniques for surgeons practicing in hardship areas would be a great topic. Dr. Sihoe touched on the issue during one of his lectures, but since I’ve heard other surgeons talk about the limitations posed by having only one thoracoscope, I’d love to see an equipment representative give a lecture on maintaining thoracoscopes, where to donate old scopes or how to rehab these scopes for a second life. A talk about modifying existing surgical instruments for surgeons who can’t afford the Scanlan set would be helpful as well. One of the reasons these courses have been so successful it the fact that they are technically based, so adding a section like this might help spread the uniportal technique to a whole socio-economic and geographic segment of patients that it might not otherwise reach.
This last item might be a tall order for Dr. Scarci and his group but he’s done pretty well thus far.
Learn Uniportal VATS from the masters – with a hands-on wet lab..
Attendees at the November 2015 course
La Coruna. Espana
Beyond the theoretical
The Advanced course on uniportal VATS differs from the rest of the courses covered here at Thoracics.org in that it goes beyond didactic lectures and surgical demonstrations. The three day course, sponsored by Johnson & Johnson is one of the few to offer hands-on training in a one-day ‘wet lab’.
Dr. Dario Amore (Hospital Monaldi, Naples, Italy) operates under the watchful eye of Dr. Maria Delgado of Hospital Universitario de Coruna.
During the lab portion of this course, attendees are encouraged to perform several lobectomies using the uniportal approach while being proctored by several well-experienced surgeons including Dr. Diego Gonzalez Rivas himself, and his surgical colleagues (Dr. Maria Delgado Roel, Dr. Mercedes Del la Torre and Dr. Ricardo Fernando Prado). These surgeons make up the world famous thoracic surgery department at the Coruna University Hospital. They are joined by Dr. Miguel Congregado, another Spanish surgeon from Seville, who is also well experienced in uniportal VATS.
Course attendees with Spanish mentoring surgeons:Dr. Maria Delgado (3rd from left), Dr. Mercedes de la Torre (center) and Dr. Ricardo Prado (far right). Dr. Miguel Congregado (first row)
While there have been multiple discussions among STS and other organizations regarding the minimum training required for surgeons to be credentialed and to practice Uniportal VATS and other advanced surgical techniques in their respective hospitals – the wet lab gives no doubt as to the need for ‘hands-on’ experience for even experienced VATS surgeons*.
Lecture content becomes reality
Visiting surgeons during didactic component
Powerpoint discussions, video demonstrations and even the most engaging lectures on bleeding complications quickly take center stage once surgeons enter the lab.
For surgeons who have spent their time watching Dr. Gonzalez Rivas perform a complete lymph node dissection in under 9 minutes, the lab is eye opening.
Despite being cautioned during lectures on preventing and managing bleeding the day before, as well as short review immediately prior to entering the lab, essential pre-operative preparations on surgical trays are noticeably absent in the lab. None of the two man teams takes the time to place spongesticks on their mayo stands or make any other modifications to their instruments prior to making the initial incision.
Attendees experience the reality of bleeding complications during initial attempts at Uniportal VATS
One by one – with two notable exceptions, each of the 8 teams encounters catastrophic bleeding – injuries to the pulmonary arteries, accidental tears to the vena cava and other major problems. But that’s why they are here: to become familiar with uniportal surgery, its specialized instruments while being guided by experienced uniportal VATS surgeons. One by one, the surgeons remember the mantra of Dr. Diego Gonzalez Rivas: “Don’t panic!” as they maneuver and do the best to re-establish hemostasis. Surgeons practice placing stitches in the PA, and repairing the great vessels. All remember the first lesson Uniportal VATS – hold pressure. Some manage these complications quickly with relative ease, others struggle initially and some fail entirely.
Bleeding is not the only possible complication for novice uniportal surgeons
Others, like the pair of general surgeons from the Netherlands demonstrate that despite a steep learning curve, success is possible with uniportal VATS. After initially learning traditional VATS in 2008, these surgeons had just 5 uniportal cases under their belt prior to coming to this course. However, each of their cases were completed quickly and without complications.
The wet lab was followed by a day of live-surgery performed by Dr. Gonzalez Rivas – where attendees could ask questions about his techniques during the operations. Their new found experience in the web lab served as a useful framework for their questions and observations.
*Dr. Gonzalez Rivas and his colleagues recommend attending several courses, followed by a web-lab and then finally, proctoring with an experienced Uniportal VATS surgeon.
Interested in learning uniportal VATS?
Start by familiarizing yourself with the basics – watch YouTube and other surgical demonstration videos like the Virtual VATS uniportal lobectomy on December 3rd 2016, read articles and reviews.
Attend conferences and moderated discussions on the technical aspects of uniportal VATS
Observe ‘live-surgery’ events – like the week long courses at Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital
Attend wet lab courses
Finally, arrange for mini-residencies or mentoring at home facility as you begin to implement these techniques into your own practice. Be prepared to encounter bleeding and other complications and remember: Don’t panic!
The STS Task force takes on credentiallng in minimally invasive surgery but shouldn’t they be looking at advanced specialty certification instead?
Dr. Jiang Gening (Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital) performs dual port thoracoscopy using a 3D monitor
The term “minimally invasive surgery” gets tossed around a lot these days; it’s on advertisements for surgery clinics, hospital billboards and countless CVs. But what does that term really mean? And who has earned the right to claim this skill set? It’s an issue that is becoming more relevant in thoracic surgery as many surgeons become trained in increasingly complex procedures. It’s also part of a shift in referral patterns, as patients increasingly seek and even self-refer to surgeons who advertise expertise in less invasive procedures. But right now, there is no way to designate or delineate between surgeons trained in these procedures and other general thoracic (and general surgeons). So I was excited to see that the STS was finally going to address this area. Or at least, I thought they were, when I saw the recent draft, entitled, “STS Expert Consensus Statement: A tool-kit to assist thoracic surgeons seeking credentialing for new technology and advanced procedures in general thoracic surgeon.”
Sharp eyed readers probably already see some of the problems with this draft. But first, a little background.
Certification
Currently, the primary certification in the United States for the thoracic surgery specialty is the American Board of Thoracic Surgery examination (ABTS) which is the entry-level requirement for thoracic surgeons after completing their surgical fellowship in thoracic surgery. While, the ABTS certification requires a biannual re-certification to maintain credentials, this certification only covers the minimum requirements for thoracic surgery. It doesn’t address the newest technological advances in this specialty. This is problematic for consumers seeking surgeons specially trained and experienced in performing techniques such an uniportal surgery. It also creates difficulties for surgeons seeking this skill set since there is no clearly defined coursework required to obtain these skills.
uniportal surgery
Certification versus credentialing
But, certification and credentialing are not the same thing. Certification is generally a national or internationally recognized achievement, whereas credentialing is a more local process, from hospital to hospital or organization to organization. Credentialing is done not to recognize surgical skills or achievement but to protect the healthcare facility from the kind of liability that arises when imposters impersonate medical personnel, physicians with suspended licenses continue to practice, and similar such circumstances. Being credentialed within a healthcare network, or hospital facility isn’t an achievement per se, it’s a requirement for most of us to receive a paycheck. It’s also extremely variable, as this draft details, and subject to the whims of the Joint Commission.
STS focuses on credentialing – not certification..
STS focuses on credentialing: “The purpose of this consensus statement is to serve as a reference and resource for surgeons and hospitals as they plan for the safe introduction and implementation of new technologies and advanced procedures in general thoracic surgery.”
But this is thoracics.org – so we don’t have to. We have the luxury of considering the bigger picture.
But whether institutional credentialing or national certification – It’s a good excuse to examine the issues more closely. So instead of looking at credentialing, we’ll use the principles advanced by STS as part of consideration for a system of certification; by a national /international organization like STS or by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery itself. (While STS is focusing on facilities, they need to think bigger and be bigger. This draft has the potential to serve as guideline for an advanced specialty certification, but it would need some drastic changes.)
But regardless of whether we talk about certification or credentialing, we need to first define what we are referring to when we use this terminology.
What is minimally invasive surgery?
Does traditional (3 or more port) video assisted thoracoscopy qualify? What about robotic assisted surgery? A new document by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Task force on General Thoracic Surgery Credentialing attempts to define minimally invasive thoracic surgery. In the document, the authors propose set definitions to replace this vague terminology to better clarify these distinctions. In this, they partially succeed.
How does a surgeon become a minimally invasive surgeon?
What are the qualifications for performing minimally invasive surgery? Does a weekend conference with lecture-only content qualify? What about more extensive wet-lab courses? Is there a case minimum for surgeons claiming competency in this surgical technique?
In their pursuit of credentialing guidelines, Blackmon et. al outlines a complicated set of checklists, proficiency levels and other suggestions for hospitals seeking to credential and privilege surgeons to perform these procedures.
Not a mandate, just suggestions
The authors claim that the purpose of this document is not to mandate the training requirements for a proposed credentialing process. In contrast, any proposal for a certification process in minimally invasive thoracic surgery techniques, by definition, would require mandates and strict requirements.
Not only that, but I disagree with their premise regarding credentialing. Credentialing should be equally arduous and less ‘historically’ defined.
These mandates would be a useful and valuabletool to guide and aid both consumers and surgeons. Surgeons and residents in thoracic surgery would have a clear cut curriculum to use as a road map for obtaining training and surgical proficiency. Consumers would have a guarantee that surgeons with these certifications had completed the minimum standards for training.
The authors propose a complicated set of proficiency levels to account for differences in regional and facility specific criteria. The task force does such to prevent an undue burden on each surgeon to conform to a rigid set of minimum criteria, thus ‘grandfathering’ in surgeons who may have obtained their training outside of traditional frameworks. While I understand this consideration, in this aspect, I disagree.
Five levels of proficiency
While the authors intentions are sincere, a less complicated, but more strict set of qualifications would better serve the specialty. Instead of having multiple levels of qualifications, a uniform approach would be less self-serving and more easily understood by consumers. In this case, greater transparency is needed to protect the public, and maintain public trust. Surgery, like every other service industry, is becoming more and more consumer-driven every day. Using levels of proficiency that read as, “Has taken VATS training, lecture-format only” or as cited by Blackmon et al. “the clinician has learned VATS lobectomy at our course, completing an animal skills model assessment and achieving level 3 skills verification” places too great of a burden on the consumer. It is also serves as a disservice to thoracic surgeons and the thoracic surgery specialty in general. By trying to be “all-inclusive,” the task force has weakened the value of this ‘credential’. If a hospital wants to privilege a surgeon to perform a procedure after the surgeon has watched it on Youtube, that’s something for their risk management department to take on – but an advanced specialty certification would eliminate a lot of these shenanigans, (but maybe that’s what STS is hesitant to take on). It certainly won’t be popular politically among many of the more traditional surgeons that serve as much of the general body of STS.
Traditional VATS as advanced technology?
Lastly, I find it discouraging that as a specialty, thoracic surgery is still talking about traditional VATS as an advanced surgical technology. It initially emerged in the early 1990’s and by now, should be standard fare for all thoracic surgery fellows of the past decade. The most recent guidelines consensus statements (of 2013) recommend VATS as first line treatment for a multitude of conditions. Three-port VATS is no longer something out of science fiction, for today’s surgeons, it should be bread and butter. By that criteria alone, standard VATS shouldn’t even be in consideration for inclusion as minimally invasive surgery. That title and definition should be reserved for the more advanced, and more specialized techniques, whether robotic or uniportal.
Source document:
Blackmon et al. (2015). STS Expert Consensus Statement: a tool-kit to assist thoracic surgeons seeking credentialing for new technology and advanced procedures in general thoracic surgery. Read draft here. You have until 5/27/2015 to send STS your opinion.
information about the upcoming VATS symposium in Cambridge, UK – with featured speakers Dr. Diego Gonzalez Rivas and Ian Hunt.
Another conference/ educational announcement for all residents, fellows and interested thoracic surgeons. This course is sponsored by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service and is being held in Cambridge, UK at Papworth Hospital this November. There is parallel content for nurses and other thoracic surgery personnel.
Internationally known Spanish surgeon Dr. Diego Gonzalez Rivas as well as native surgeon Mr. (Dr.) Ian Hunt of St. George’s Hospital in London, will be part of the faculty teaching this course.
Dr. Gonzalez Rivas will be discussing single port surgery in addition to performing a live case on the second day of the symposium.
Mr. Hunt will be discussing how to perform a total lymphadenectomy, as well as lymphadenectomies on more complicated cases.
Additional speakers will be discussing topics including issues in thoracic anesthesia, management of bleeding (in VATS and other minimally invasive surgery), and managing other operative complications.
a record number of surgeons fail to pass the American thoracic surgery certification exam, in the midst of a deepening shortage of surgeons.
A new report from the (American) Board of Thoracic Surgery shows a growing number of eligible surgeons are failing the thoracic surgery certification examination.
Record Failure Rate
As stated in the article published at Family Practice News, the failure rate has doubled to 28% in just a few short years. This comes at a critical period in American medicine as shortages in specialty surgeons have emerged around the country due to an aging workforce. This shortage is not confined to the United States – and has been echoed in Canada, the UK and several other industrialized nations.
Decrease in resident hours = decreased surgical knowledge
This record failure rate comes in the wake of recent reforms to resident surgical education – including several reductions in resident training hours, and the push for a condensed 6 year residency program.
Rapidly evolving surgical technology
At the same time, rapidly evolving surgical technology and research in thoracic surgery may actually require significant curriculum changes and increased length of specialty training, according to this report at Thoracic Surgery News.
But, as previously reported, the extensive training requirements for cardiothoracic surgery have led to fewer residents and widespread vacancies in residency programs as fewer and fewer surgical residents elect to devote themselves to cardiothoracic surgery due to concerns about diminishing financial returns, reduced economic opportunities, excessive student loan burdens and concerns related to the hardships of the ‘cardiothoracic lifestyle’.
Solo Cardiac, General Thoracic tracks may trump combined “Cardiothoracic”
Alternatively, North American surgeons may need to follow the example of many of their international peers and diverge into two separate tracks: cardiac surgery and general thoracic to maintain surgical proficiency without excessive education burden in an era of rapidly evolving surgical knowledge.
Interested in learning more about single port thoracoscopy, or talking to the inventors of this technique? This March – head to the 1st Asian single port surgery conference in Hong Kong.
It doesn’t look like Cirugia de Torax will be in attendance for this conference, but it’s another opportunity for practicing thoracic surgeons and thoracic surgery fellows to learn more about single port thoracoscopic surgery.
This March (7th – 8th), the Chinese University of Hong Kong, along with the Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery Unit (Coruna, Spain), and Duke University are presenting the 1st Asian Single Port Symposium and Live Surgery conference in Hong Kong.
This is your chance to meet the experts – and the inventors of this technique (such as Dr. Diego Gonzalez – Rivas, one of the new masters frequently featured here at Cirugia de Torax.)
what is the future of thoracic surgery education? A new American study asks the if it is time to separate the specialties of cardiac and thoracic surgery.
A new study by Cooke & Wisner performed at a large medical center in California (UC Davis) and published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery provides additional weight to the idea that Thoracic Surgery has increasingly developed into it’s own subspecialty away from the traditional cardiothoracic surgery model (seen in the United States and several other countries.)
In an article published in Medical News Today, the authors of the study explained that the increased complexity of (noncardiac) thoracic surgery procedures for general thoracic conditions has led to increased referrals and utilization of general thoracic surgeons (versus cardiac or general surgeons). This shows a reversal in a previous trend away from specialists – with more patients now receiving “complex” thoracic surgery procedures from specialty trained, board-certified thoracic surgeons. Previously up to 75% of all thoracic surgery procedures were performed by general surgeons.
With lung cancer rates expected to climb dramatically in North America and Europe, particularly in women – along with esophageal cancer, and long waits already common, support and on-going discussion about the evolution of resident and fellow education is desperately needed.
Reference
Cooke, D. T. & Wisner, D. H. (2012). Who performs complex noncardiac thoracic Surgery in United States Academic Medical Centers? Ann Thorac Surg 2012;94:1060-1064. doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2012.04.018
A brief interview with Dr. Thomas D’Amico, Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Duke University Medical Center.
Dr. Thomas D’Amico is one of the first American thoracic surgeons I’ve had the privilege of interviewing for the website, after he was recommended to me by several other surgeons in Colombia. (Dr. D’Amico went to Medellin as an invited guest a few years ago and apparently made quite an impression.)
The irony in this scenario is unmistakable, since I worked for Duke (at another facility) for over three years – and knew of Dr. D’Amico, but had never met or spoken to him before.
Today, Dr. D’Amico took some time out of his busy schedule so we could talk about minimally invasive surgery, esophageal surgery programs and robots.
Dr. D’Amico is the Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Together with several other physicians that make up the thoracic surgery program; the surgeons at Duke perform 1600 – 1800 cases per year. This includes the entire spectrum of thoracic surgery procedures (thoracoscopic surgeries including lobectomies, wedge resections, mediastinal tumors, etc).
Last December, Duke started a minimally invasive esophageal surgery program, as well as a robotic thoracic surgery program. (Both of these concepts should be familiar to readers since we published articles on these very topics earlier this month, talking about the TIME trial in Europe, comparing outcomes between traditional and minimally invasive esophageal surgery, as well as previous post exploring the dearth of published literature on Robotic Thoracic Surgery. )
Since its inception six months ago, the program has done 80 -100 cases of minimally invasive esophageal surgery. Notably, Duke has an established esophageal cancer program – which performs about 70 – 80 esophagectomies a year. This doesn’t sound like a lot, but it actually distinguishes this program as a high volume center, which is important for reducing morbidity and mortality. Multiple studies have confirmed that esophageal surgery patients do better (less deaths, less complications) when they have surgery with thoracic surgeons at high volume centers.
The Robotics program, headed by Dr. Mark Onaitis is performing about 8 to 10 cases per month. The program is currently limited due to access to the Divinci robot. (Currently, thoracic surgery has use of the robot one day per week.) Dr. D’Amico reports that surgical case times have been increased on the robotic cases but states that much of this is robot maneuvering time as the robot is brought into position for surgery.
I’ve asked to observe a robotic case so I can bring you first hand observations (a la Bogotá Surgery style), as well as have a chance to look around the dedicated thoracic surgery unit at Duke hospital.
Pleural mesothelioma and related conditions are less well-defined within the Duke Thoracic surgery program. They only see about 20 or 25 cases per year, and don’t really have an established program for these patients. Dr. D’Amico reports they are not actively pursuing brachiotherapy or HITHOC (intrathoracic hyperthermic chemotherapy) options. The main focus of the program remains minimally invasive procedures, which is where Dr. D’Amico sees the future of thoracic surgery.
As for the surgeon himself, he is surprisingly closed lipped about his personal and professional life, and declined to answer any questions on the subject. He has a reputation around Duke as a shy, quiet and gentle man but my time with him was extremely limited, so I have no insights, or impressions to pass along to readers. Hopefully, I’ll get another chance to speak with him in the future, so I am able to give more details about these programs, and the surgeon behind it all.
Thoracic Surgery 