Second Annual Course Addresses Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgical Techniques for Access to Internal Organs Through Existing Body Openings
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center, and Weill Cornell Medical College Organize Event
NEW YORK (Dec. 22, 2008) — The second annual international medical education course on the advanced minimally invasive technique called NOTES — natural-orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery — was presented by the gastroenterologists and surgeons who helped pioneer the revolutionary technique, which allows for minimally invasive surgical access to internal organs through existing body openings.
The course included presentations about the latest scarless and minimally invasive surgical techniques, which offer benefits for patients including reduced pain and quicker recovery time.
Close to 200 health professionals representing 20 states and 20 countries and five continents attended the ACCME-accredited course. The event took place Dec. 15 and 16 at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Rockefeller University.
This July, gastroenterologists and surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center were among the first in the nation to perform a NOTES procedure, removing a woman's gallbladder with an incision behind the uterus without any external incisions. At the recent conference, they discussed other new scarless approaches, including two performed through the patient's mouth. TOGA (for "transoral gastroplasty") is a weight-loss procedure designed to alter the patient's stomach anatomy to give them a feeling of fullness after a small meal. TIF (transoral incisionless fundoplication) involves repairing the lower esophageal sphincter in patients with chronic GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) in order to keep stomach acid from backing up into the esophagus.
Surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center discussed the development of natural-orifice approaches for colon and rectal surgery using an advanced endoscope that combines imaging and instrumentation. They also presented on how scarless surgery is being investigated for the treatment of diabetes — done by implanting a flexible sleeve in the small intestine to block the absorption of nutrients. A clinical trial is anticipated for next year. In addition, the surgeons discussed how future operating suites with radiological imaging and high-definition video displays could provide an enhanced picture of the procedure as it happens.
The 2008 NOTES course was led by Drs. Marc Bessler (director of the Minimal Access Surgery Center and director of the Center for Metabolic and Weight Loss Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia and assistant professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons), Jeffrey Milsom (chief of colorectal surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell and the DeCosse Distinguished Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College), Peter D. Stevens (director of endoscopy at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia and assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons) and Francesco Rubino (director of the Diabetes Surgery Center and chief of Gastrointestinal Metabolic Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell and a professor of surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College).
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital — based in New York City — is the nation's largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital, with 2,242 beds. It provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Allen Pavilion and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division. One of the largest and most comprehensive health care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. It ranks sixth in U.S.News & World Report's guide to "America's Best Hospitals," ranks first on New York magazine's "Best Hospitals" survey, has the greatest number of physicians listed in New York magazine's "Best Doctors" issue, and is included among Solucient's top 15 major teaching hospitals. The Hospital is ranked with among the lowest mortality rates for heart attack and heart failure in the country, according to a 2007 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report card. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the nation's leading medical colleges: Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. For more information, www.nyp.org.
Columbia University Medical Center
Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, in medical and health sciences education, and in patient care. The Medical Center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Established in 1767, Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons was the first institution in the country to grant the M.D. degree and is now among the most selective medical schools in the country. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and state and one of the largest in the United States. For more information, please visit www.cumc.columbia.edu.
Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Weill Cornell, which is a principal academic affiliate of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, offers an innovative curriculum that integrates the teaching of basic and clinical sciences, problem-based learning, office-based preceptorships, and primary care and doctoring courses. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research in areas such as stem cells, genetics and gene therapy, geriatrics, neuroscience, structural biology, cardiovascular medicine, transplantation medicine, infectious disease, obesity, cancer, psychiatry and public health — and continue to delve ever deeper into the molecular basis of disease in an effort to unlock the mysteries of the human body in health and sickness. In its commitment to global health and education, the Medical College has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Cornell University is the first in the U.S. to offer a M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances — including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, the first indication of bone marrow's critical role in tumor growth, and most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally conscious brain-injured patient. For more information, visit www.med.cornell.edu.
Kathleen Robinson
krobinso@med.cornell.edu