III International Conference “Metabolic Surgery”

Videosurgery Obesity is becoming a more and more frequent disease in the world, including Poland, and is often called the epidemic of the 21 st century. Abundant accumulation of fatty tissue leads to many metabolic disturbances, such as diabetes, hyperlipidaemia and cardiovascular system diseases, the elements of metabolic syndrome. Since surgical treatment of morbid obesity (> 40 kg/m 2) was shown to cause not only a long-term, significant decrease in body mass, but also partial or complete regression of comorbidities and reduction in mortality by 30%, surgery of obesity or bariatric surgery has been one of the most dynamically developing fields of interventional medicine. The 1 st Department of General and Endocrine Surgery of the Medical University of Białystok, headed by Prof. Jacek Dadan, having 6 years of experience and more than 300 bariatric procedures performed, is one of the leading bariatric centres, and good results of treatment of obesity draw patients from the whole country to Białystok. In recognition of its achievements , the Board of Section of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery distinguished the Department by entrusting it with a role of the organizer of the Third International Conference " Metabolic Surgery " , which took place during 11-14 May 2011 in Białystok. Honorary patronage was accepted President of the Society of Polish Surgeons. More than 250 doctors from Poland and abroad took part in the conference. Among them were not only the most prominent Polish specialists, but also recognized experts of world bariatrics. In the first place we shall name Prof. Aniceto Baltasar from Spain, with enormous personal experience of more than 1200 bariatric procedures. More than 1000 laparoscopic gastric bypass operations were performed in Sweden and in Lithuania by Prof. Almantas Maleckas, who proctored many Polish surgeons, including the author of this report. Also Dr Daniel Krawczykowski, a Belgian of Polish origin, one of the few European surgeons performing complex procedures of bilio-pancreatic diversion with a duodenal switch, shared his experience with participants of the conference. Very interesting talks were held by Thanos Kakoulidis, a bariatric surgeon working in Stockholm, also operating on patients with stage I obesity in the framework of one of the first trials in the world in this group of patients. The ample scientific programme was divided into 5 interdisciplinary sessions, all being very popular among participants. The Opening Ceremony and the first two sessions were held in Aula Magna of the Medical …