Pancreatic surgery is increasingly becoming a specialistic branch of abdominal surgery, requiring specific cultural and technical competences. Whereas many courses and meetings are focused on the complex cultural aspects of pancreatic surgery (indications, intra-operative choices, post-operative management, etc), little attention is paid to technical details and to the execution of surgical procedures as a first surgeon, due to the poor availability of dedicated resources.
The introduction of the minimally invasive approach makes it even more difficult to acquire all the technical competences needed to adequately face this challenging surgery. Consequently, there is a strong need for hands-on courses where participants have the chance to personally perform both open and laparoscopic pancreatic resections under the guidance of an expert pancreatic surgeon, in order to improve their own surgical burden.
