"We basically have the most advanced equipment in the world, and we are not lagging behind in the technology of doctors' surgical operations." Prof. XIE Liping, President of the International Society of Urology (SIU), President of the 43rd Congress of the International Society of Urology, and Director of the Department of Urology of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine (FAHZU), recently returned from the 43rd SIU Congress, he said that at present, the biggest gap between Chinese urological surgeons and those in developed countries in Europe and the United States lies in the original innovation and effective data accumulation.
XIE Liping speaks at the 43rd SIU Congress.
At the 42nd SIU Congress in 2022, XIE Liping was elected president of the International Society of Urology, making him the first president of SIU from China in its more than 100 years of history. XIE Liping is proud that China is now becoming a leader in certain areas of international urology.
XIE Liping (left) presents the award to the winner at the 43rd SIU Congress.
Previously, XIE Liping's team conducted a series of original research in minimally invasive surgery for benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). He introduced that traditional open surgery for BPH often caused patients to suffer from excessive intraoperative bleeding. Even the transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), which is considered the "gold standard" for prostate surgery, has issues such as high recurrence rates and excessive intraoperative bleeding in clinical practice.
"There is no absolute gold standard in medicine." XIE originated new, innovative endoscopic enucleation procedures for patients with BPH in 2011, including transurethral vapor enucleation and resection of the prostate (TVERP), transurethral vapor enucleation of the prostate (TVEP) and ultrasound-navigated TVEP/TVERP (US-TVEP/TVERP). The procedures are also known as "button" surgery by its peers because the plasma electrode used resembles a button, which results in significantly less bleeding, less surgical trauma, and faster post-operative recovery for patients.
Innovation knows no bounds. In 2019, Xie Liping also originated a series of innovative technologies such as the Dayu Scalpel, a multifunctional device that combines enucleation, coagulation, vaporization, and resection of the prostate, as well as the intelligent "Blue Whale" tissue morcellating system. These innovations truly achieve "bloodless surgery" for BPH and promote a more scientific, precise, and easily learned approach to BPH surgery. As a result, XIE has been invited multiple times to perform surgeries in Germany, Italy, and other countries. He has also trained a large number of domestic and international urologists to master this series of innovative techniques, benefiting a greater number of patients.
During his tenure as President of the SIU, XIE has actively promoted the exchange and cooperation between urologists around the world. He aimed for the SIU to become an academic community that urologists around the world aspire to be a part of, serving as a platform for urologists worldwide to share knowledge. He also recommended more Chinese doctors, technologies, and products to go global.
XIE believes that in the field of urology, the biggest gap between Chinese doctors and doctors from developed countries lies not in technology and equipment but in original innovation and the accumulation of effective data. He mentioned that doctors in Europe and America place great emphasis on data accumulation. They meticulously record details about each patient, including pre- and post-operative conditions, and publish papers based on extensive long-term follow-up data. Eventually, these publications form guidelines that guide the development of the discipline and technological advancements.
"The amount of urology surgery data in China is the largest in the world, but doctors are so busy doing surgery that they rarely collate valid data." According to Xie Liping, this is the area where Chinese doctors still have a long way to go.
What impresses Xie Liping most is that the venue for this year's congress is right next to the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, the first trans-oceanic bridge that crosses the Bosphorus and connects Eurasia. In his view, Istanbul bridges Europe and Asia, and the SIU is a bridge that connects Eurasia to the rest of the world, allowing urologists around the world to communicate more widely and improve urology diagnosis and treatment for the betterment of the people from all countries.
Correspondent: ZHENG Xiangyi, CHEN Hong, MA Xueyou
Photo: FAHZU Urology
