Vittoria Bellato interviews Janindra Warusavitarne who will be speaking on perianal Crohn’s disease at Virtually Vilnius.

Janindra is a consultant colorectal surgeon at St Mark’s Hospital in London. Beforehand, he was a consultant surgeon in Sydney, Australia, where he did most of his training. He has a special interest in inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal failure, pelvic floor surgery and surgery for early cancer. He has extensive experience in minimally invasive surgery and has been innovative in developing minimally invasive surgical techniques.

Janindra was awarded a PhD in molecular genetics in 2005 and since then has supervised research students for both MD and PhD degrees in Sydney and London. He is the lead surgeon for inflammatory bowel diseases at St Mark’s Hospital and is part of the executive team conducting the European Board qualification for colorectal surgery.


Vittoria Bellato: Janindra, thank you for agreeing to speak at the ESCP 15th Annual & Scientific Conference about perianal Crohn’s disease in the session of EBSQ Coloproctology examination. Can you give us an idea of what to expect?

Janindra Warusavitarne: I am talking about the management of perianal Crohn’s disease (PCD) as a part of the education series for the upcoming EBSQ examinations.

VB: What do you want to add to the subject and why?

JW: I want to give a brief overview on the surgical management and challenges associated with managing PCD so that examination candidates can answer any questions with confidence but also be updated on the latest literature on the topic.

VB: Seems to be a very useful and practical talk! What will be the key points of interest?

JW: The key points are the multidisciplinary management of PCD, the role of stem cells, and understanding anatomy of the fistula. These are the important topics to cover that will provide the most comprehensive overview and understanding of the topic.

VB: In your opinion what are the future developments in the field?

JW: In my opinion the most important are stem cells, minimally invasive surgery, and damage control.