Doctor Vicente Pons, a member of the Spanish Society of Digestive Endoscopy (SEED) and president of its 48th National Congress, has highlighted that digestive endoscopy "has evolved in an extraordinary way and today occupies a fundamental role not only in diagnosis, but also in the treatment of numerous digestive diseases."
As he has emphasized, "we are witnessing advances that allow alternatives to more invasive certain surgical procedures and expanding the therapeutic possibilities of many patients," while he also highlighted that the meeting taking place these days in Oviedo (Asturias), and which will bring together more than 740 scientific communications, "is an opportunity to share these advances, debate their applications, and continue to drive forward the development" of this area.
Within the framework of the congress, it has been stressed that digestive endoscopy makes it possible to treat certain tumor lesions and complications of the digestive system without resorting to traditional surgery. In this vein, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as an ally to improve the detection and characterization of lesions, increase the accuracy of examinations, and support clinical decision-making.
In relation to this, the AI expert engineer Iván Monells will deliver the talk 'Beyond the chat: where AI is at (and where it’s going)', in which he will analyze the capabilities and limitations of the new systems, the risks of using them without supervision, and their potential application in fields such as Medicine, pharmaceuticals, and research.
Advanced procedures and joint work with surgery
During the event, the shift from purely diagnostic endoscopy to complex therapeutic procedures will be reviewed. Techniques such as endoscopic resection, submucosal dissection, and endoscopic myotomy make it possible to address certain lesions and digestive diseases while avoiding, in many cases, a conventional surgical operation. To delve deeper into this area, an experts’ panel focused on collaboration between gastroenterologists and surgeons will be organized.
The program also includes a specific block dedicated to Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, conditions that affect around 300,000 people in Spain, as well as inflammatory bowel disease in general. Topics to be addressed include criteria for performing quality colonoscopies, the role of chromoendoscopy and AI in monitoring dysplasia in patients with colitis, and the endoscopic alternatives for managing Crohn’s strictures.
Joint session with the ESGE and European recommendations
The congress also includes a joint session with the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE, by its English-language acronym), aimed at updating some of the most important advances and guidelines at the European level. In this session, endoscopy techniques of the third space and peroral endoscopic myotomy will be reviewed, continent-wide recommendations on sedation, as well as prevention and treatment strategies for complications associated with endoscopic procedures.