The Inaugural Annual Academic Sessions Joint Meeting of BAUS and SLAUS

BAUS / SLAUS 2013 Conference Report: 4th – 7th November, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Day 1

Greetings from Colombo, Sri Lanka. Home of the Inaugural Meeting of BAUS / SLAUS. The gathering, held in cool Colombo was off to a great start at Asiri Surgical Hospital. It was inundated with delegates from all over Sri Lanka and the UK, who had come to learn and exchange opinions. The conference started with a focus on LUTS. Mr. Mark Speakman (Taunton, UK) emphasizing importance and correct terminology used in treatment of this condition. This was followed by Mr. Pallavoor Anandaram (Wrexham, UK) and Mr. Ian Pearce (Manchester, UK) talking on medical management the pros and cons, with great debate and participation from delegates. This was followed by Mr. Peter Acher (Southend, UK) covering surgical management of LUTS.  

Lunch was held on the rooftop terrace, with gourmet Sri Lankan cuisine. The afternon was filled with laparoscopic talks led by Mr. Christian Brown (London, UK) with Mr. Sanjeev Madaan (Dartford, UK) reflecting on use of cryotherapy importance, technique and complications.

In addition there was also a live surgical link up with Mr. Ranjan Thilagarajah (Chelmsford, UK) conducting live robotic surgery at Kings College. This was streamed to Australia, USA, Sri Lanka and the UK.

In true Sri Lankan fashion, the day concluded with a welcome dinner, and exchange of gifts for the Faculty. All in readiness for a new day!!!

Day 3

The day kicked off to a bright start discussing complex MDT cases, with a combined panel from the UK and Sri Lanka. Involved in discussions were Dr. Serozsha AS Goonewardena (Colombo, Sri Lanka), Prof. Raj Persad, Mr. Sanjeev Madaan, Miss Sanchia Goonewardene (London, UK). There were a variety of cases covered including prostate, bladder and renal cancer and a variety of management strategies discussed.

As before, local gourmet cooking was served for lunch, with the afternoon moving onto a series of lectures. Firstly was Mr. Ian Pearce (Manchester, UK) on how to get a paper published. Secondly, Miss Sanchia Goonewardene on UK training, followed by Mr. Sohan Perera (Colombo, Sri Lanka) on Sri Lanka training. Mr. David Tolley (Edinburgh, UK) then covered aspects of educational involvement from the college, and the afternoon ended with Mr. David Jones (Gloucester, UK) explaining the process of internal review. A welcome address was conducted by Mr. Anura Wijewardane (Colombo, Sri Lanka), then Chief Guest Mr. Mark Speakman spoke, before an address by the Guest of Honour, Dr. Athula Kahandaliyanage (Colombo, Sri Lanka).

Both Mr. Mark Speakman and Mr. David Tolley were awarded Honurary Fellowships by SLAUS, before a vote of thanks was conducted by Dr. Ajith Malalasekera (Secretary, SLAUS).

The evening concluded with a cultural show and reception, just what all needed. 

 

Day 4

The day kicked off with Mr. Vincent Gnanapragasam (Oxford, UK), lecturing on risk stratification on prostate cancer. Mr. Gurpreet Singh then spoke on surgical management of LUTS, including objective assessment of obstruction. An audience vote was taken for surgical treatment, with the vote almost unanimously being in favour of bipolar. Then Mr. Peter Acher spoke on HoLEP, giving the pros and cons of the system. Mr. Christian Brown spoke on greenlight laser, therapy and protocol involved. This revealed a ground breaking moment as he presented new data on green light vs. TURP (unpublished).

Overactive bladder symptoms and treatment were then discussed by Ms. Tharani Nitkunan (Surrey, UK), including at times a mixed response to treatment. Mr. Roger Walker (Epsom, UK) then spoke on stress inconvenience and use of mid urethral tape. Complications of tapes were then covered by Mr. Simon Fulford. Mr. Pravin Menezes (Sunderland, UK) then discussed non communicable disease and types of stone. 

Mr. Mark Stott (Exeter, UK) then spoke on urosepsis and mortality, highlighting the importance of preventing urosepsis and early antibiotic therapy. Dr. Anuruddha M Abeygunasekara (Colombo, Sri Lanka), then spoke on GU TB. This was especially interesting to the UK delegates, like that we do not see.

Mr. Mark Speakman then gave the SLAUS lecture on prostate cancer incidence and trials involved.

After lunch, uro-oncology was covered by both Mr. Thiru Gunendran (Manchester, UK) and Prof. Raj Persad. Also during the afternoon was the trainees forum ranging from stone disease to uro-oncology to new techniques for urethral pull-through for management of membrano prostatic disease.

After tea came management of spinal cord injury by Mr. Simon Fulford and Mr. Julian Shah, before facilitation of UK fellowships by Mr. Ranjan Thilagarajah and management of vesico-vaginal fistulae by Mr. Julian Shah.

The evening ended with a closing ceremony and banquet. 

Sanchia Goonewardene and Raj Persad*
Homerton University Hospital, London and *Bristol Urological Institute, Southmead

[caption id=”attachment_10517″ align=”alignleft” width=”800′ label=’ Faculty member, Miss Sanchia Goonewardene and President Elect of BAUS, Mr. Mark Speakman at the Faculty Dinner, Pegasus Reef Hotel, Sri Lanka.