Source: The Sixth Affiliated Hospital
Written by: Luo Shuangling, Wang Jingwen
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

From June 9th to 11th, 2016, the 20th Annual Conference of European Society of Surgery (ESS) was held in Naples, Italy. Dr. Kang Liang, Associate Professor from the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, gave an oral presentation in the conference as the only Chinese scholar who was invited to give a presentation in the field of colorectal surgery.

The ESS this year focused on interesting topics, such as digestive surgery, endocrine surgery, bariatric surgery, breast surgery, complications in surgery, hernia surgery, gastrointestinal endoscopy, minimally invasive and robotic surgery, new technologies in surgery, nutrition and biopharmaceuticals in surgical patients, surgery in disaster medicine, training in laparoscopic surgery and developing countries, translational research in surgical disease, with the most up to date scientific program consisting of the state of art lectures, symposium, plenary sections, round table discussion, oral and electronic communications. Nearly one thousand scholars from Europe, America and Asia attended this academic event.

Dr. Kang Liang gave a presentation titled “Short-term Outcomes of the Comparisons Between Transanal Total Mesorectal Excision (TaTME) and Traditional Laparoscopic Total Mesorectal Excision”. TaTME is a research hotspot in colorectal surgery in recent years. The safety and feasibility of TaTME has been accepted gradually, but reports barely compared the effectiveness between TaTME and traditional laparoscopic TME. In Prof. Kang’s study, cases accepted TaTME and laparoscopic TME during the same period was matched by a ratio of 1:1. The results showed that compared with laparoscopic surgery, TaTME group achieves equal pathological quality without increasing operative or postoperative complication rate. Patients in TaTME group resume oral intake and activity earlier then the matched group. This study received highly praise in the congress for the high level surgical technique.
On June 12th, in the flight coming back from Rome to Hong Kong, Dr. Kang Liang and Dr. Luo Shuangling answered the call: “Ladies and gentlemen, if there is a medical doctor on board, please notify the nearest flight attendant.” The uncomfortable passenger was an Italian male, complaining of vomiting and abdominal pain. Dr. Kang asked about the symptoms and performed detailed physical examination. The temperature and blood pressure were normal. According to the companion’s description, Dr. Kang diagnosed the patient having a stomach discomfort caused by aircraft turbulence. After taking some antiemetic pills, the passenger felt much better.

As the development of economy and international commercial trade, airplane has become a common vehicle, along with more and more medical cases reported during the long flight. Several days ago, Prof. Lan Ping, President of the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, also helped a passenger while onboard. Recently, a program named “Medical Volunteers on the Flight” was proposed by China Southern Airlines with the aim to provide medical aid during the flight. It is hoped that more and more Chinese doctors will join in the program and offer reliable medical care during flight.