The 11th Annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Symposium

Salt Lake City, Utah, February 21–26, 2011

by Kathleen A. Wenzler
Kathleen Wenzler is Conference Marketing Director for Quadrant HealthCom.

Bariatric Times. 2011;8(8):12

The 11th Annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Symposium (MISS), including its flagship program on morbid obesity, convened February 21 to 26, 2011, in Salt Lake City, Utah, with an audience of more than 250 high-level general and bariatric surgeons from the United States and around the globe.

The program, led by MISS Founder and Executive Director Philip R. Schauer, MD, and Morbid Obesity Co-Director John Dixon, MD, featured a faculty of internationally renowned thought leaders in minimally invasive bariatric surgery and metabolic medicine. (Absent from this year’s program was longtime MISS Morbid Obesity Co-Director, Bruce Wolfe, MD, who was unable to attend. Dr. Wolfe is expected to rejoin the symposium next year.)

The two-and-a-half-day MISS morbid obesity program kicked off with presentations on the physiology of weight loss by metabolism specialist Eric Ravussin, PhD, and the physiology of hunger by gastroenterologist Lee Kaplan, MD. Dr. Dixon followed with a look at what is new in diet drugs. The morning session also included presentations by Francesco Rubino, MD, on alternative mechanisms for diabetes resolution, and Ted Adams, MD, on the University of Utah Bariatric Study.

Thursday afternoon’s Journal Club session included presentations on gastric bypass by Walter Pories, MD; laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) by Jeff Allen, MD; biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD/DS) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) by Alfons Pomp, MD; emerging technologies by Scott Shikora, MD; and bariatric surgery and metabolism by Kenneth MacDonald, MD.

Friday’s morning session featured a videofest on techniques and complications, highlighted by much-anticipated presentations on gastric plication by Dr Stacy Brethauer and gastric plication and banding by Dr. Dan Cottam. The session also included a look at new band concepts with Jaime Ponce, MD, Dr. Mitch Roslin’s presentation on sleeve en Y, and Dr. Ninh Nguyen’s talk on SILS sleeve.

Eric Finkelstein, MD, opened the Friday afternoon session focusing on health economics, with an in-depth examination of the economics of obesity and bariatric surgery. Attorney James Saxton followed with a talk on improving practice efficiency.

Friday’s session concluded with a “Stump the Experts” panel session moderated by Drs. Pories and Schirmer.
Saturday’s session focused on outcomes and safety, controversies, and new frontiers in bariatric surgery.  The morning opened with a talk by David D’Alessio, MD, on contributions of glucagon-like peptide-1(GLP-1) to metabolic outcomes in bariatric surgery. The session also included presentations by Ricardo Cohen, MD, who spoke about long-term outcomes of metabolic surgery for diabetes mellitus, Robin Blackstone, MD, FACS, who presented on surgical reporting requirements, and Samer Mattar, MD, who spoke about training initiatives. Cardiology specialist James Young, MD, presented on cardiovascular implications and indications for bariatric surgery.

The 2011 MISS closed with a lively panel discussion moderated by Dr. Schauer on “what’s hot and what’s not” in bariatric surgery. The all-star panel included Drs. Dixon, Pories, Wittgrove, Blackstone (stepping in for Dr. Bruce Wolfe), and Shikora.

Program development for the next MISS, to be held February 20 to 25, 2012, at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, is underway. For more information, please visit www.MISS-cme.org.

Photos from MISS

Category: Past Articles, Symposium Synopsis