Over 1000 participants are expected over the coming three days at ICE25 in Rome. This is the first edition of the International Conference on Endourology, organised by the EAU’s Endourology Section.
Prof. Thomas Knoll (DE), chair of the EAU Section Office opened the conference on behalf of the Endourology Section, also reflecting on the path that led to the creation of this event: “This really is the first meeting of its kind. Of course in advance we really didn’t know what to expect in terms of its popularity. Clearly the scientific programme that Prof. Traxer and his team created impressed our audience.”
“This is also the first meeting of a new section, which replaces the earlier EULIS and ESUT Sections, their respective biennial meetings and the UROtech collaborative meeting, the last edition we had in Vienna in 2024.”
Best endourologist
Prof. Bhaskar Somani (GB) introduced on of the innovations of the ICE25 scientific programme with some showmanship: the “Best Endourologist 2025: Clash of the Titans” sessions that will take place throughout the congress.
He first introduced the contestants, representing every corner of the world: Dr. Naeem Bhojani (Montreal, CA), Dr. Saeed Bin Hamri (Riyadh, SA), Dr. Pablo Contreras (Buenos Aires, AR), Dr. Vineet Gauhar (Singapore, SG) and Dr. Helene Jung (Vejle, DK).
Prof. Somani: “This will be the format: the first topic is ‘medical prevention of kidney stone disease’. Contestants will now enter a sealed off room and have 90 minutes with no access to their devices, on a generic laptop with no internet connectivity to come up with a 7-minute presentation. They will be called into the session room one by one to present and answer questions from the panel. They cannot be in the room at the same time.”
Contestants leave the room on their mission while Prof. Somani wishes them good luck.
“Audience voting of this round, and a second round on a new topic on Friday, will take place after all presentations have been completed to determine this year’s winner, to be announced on Saturday.”
The audience was noticeably intrigued by the format, with anticipation of how the presentations would turn out with presenters working with their own knowledge and skills and without the usual research and preparation.
Semi-live cases
One of the major components of the ICE25 scientific programme is the semi-live sessions, with full-length, pre-recorded cases. The surgeons present their case and explain their approach while discussing with moderators and allowing for audience questions as well.
This format was chosen over live surgery to optimize the educational value and patient safety while retaining an un-edited, “as-live” experience for the audience. Thursday morning’s session featured demonstrations of flexible ureteroscopy, BPH vapour therapy with Rezum EVO, ThuFLEP and RIRS, amongst others.
