To familiarise surgeons with the latest techniques in the treatment of uurological diseases
Robotic Urology Forum, a national organisation of surgeons practising the art of robotic urological surgeries, has joined hands with Intuitive Surgical, a global technology leader in minimally invasive care and the pioneer of robotic-assisted surgery (RAS), to conduct their 4th annual conference. The three-day-long conference named RUFCON’22 was aimed at familiarising surgeons, nurses and other healthcare professionals with the clinical application of the latest techniques in the treatment of urological disorders. The conference, organised at Muljibhai Patel Urological Hospital, Nadiad was attended by experts of Urology from across the country.
The organising committee had formulated comprehensive sessions to ensure an extensive knowledge sharing experience for the attendees. Apart from comprehensive sessions on the evolution of robotic-assisted surgery in India, there were detailed sessions on the application of RAS in uro-oncology, reconstructive urology, kidney transplant, pediatric urology and female urology. Another motive of the conference was to establish the guidelines for the best ways to manage urological cancers in this rapidly evolving treatment landscape to make sure that patients receive ideal care.
Commenting on this joint effort, Dr Arvind Ganpule, Organising Secretary, RUFCON’22 and Chief, Division of Laparoscopy and Robotic Surgery, Muljibhai Patel Urological Hospital said, “I wholeheartedly thank Intuitive India for supporting this initiative, and I appreciate all the doctors who were a part of this conference. We are glad to see a drastic increase in the number of healthcare professionals attending the conference year by year. This year we had around 150 uro-surgeons share their knowledge with others. We also demonstrated 10 live surgeries from MPUH Nadiad and HCG Hospital Ahmedabad by using Da Vinci RAS system during the conference. We were indeed honoured to host two international robotic surgeons of repute namely Dr Mihir M Desai from Los Angeles, US and Dr Omer Karim from the UKK.”
The programme was an interesting mix of ‘state of the art’ talks from legends in robotic urology. It also had academically stimulating panel discussions on topics such as medical insurance in robotic surgery, complications in robotic surgery and intense discussions on robotic renal transplant, which is an upcoming topic.
Commenting on RAS in urology, Dr Sudhir Kumar Rawal, Chairman, Robotic Urology Forum and a cancer expert from Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Hospital, said, “Robotic surgery is increasing by leaps and bounds in India with 95+ robotic installations presently. But, this is not enough to provide RAS access to all eligible patients in India. Hence, we need to enhance the installation of advanced RAS systems timely. Another important aspect we need to focus on is to train more surgeons to use RAS systems.”
“Currently, robotic-assisted surgery is extensively performed for almost all urologic procedures. At RUFCON’22 we had detailed discussions on the enhanced scope for application of RAS in more clinical areas. I am sure this conference will help the healthcare professionals to sensitize their patients about RAS in a better way,” Dr Rawal added.
Commenting on this conference, Dr Yuvaraja TB, SSecretory of RRobotic Urology Forum and the Head – Robotic Surgery and Consultant for Surgical Oncology at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital said, “The old Halsteadian principle of “See one, do one and teach one” holds true even for robotic surgery. It is always taught to young aspiring surgeons that the best way of learning any surgery is to teach one or see an expert performing a procedure. This concept remains the soul of RUFCON 2022. As the new medical and surgical technologies have the potential to improve patient outcomes, we always work towards enhancing the adoption of the latest technologies. These kinds of conferences will enhance the adoption of new surgical technologies like robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) in India.”
