Day two of #ESCP2020 Virtually Vilnius kicked off with the highly anticipated symposium ‘ESCP Global Reach and Related Research.’ Chaired by Dion Morton (UK) and Simon Ng (Hong Kong), Chair and Co-Chair of ESCP’s Global Reach Committee, the session welcomed several colorectal specialists from across the globe who shared their knowledge and recent learnings - particularly around the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reports detailing varying responses to COVID-19 challenges were shared by Kaori Futaba (Hong Kong), Antonino Spinelli (Italy), and Aneel Banghu (UK) who also shared an update on behalf of the celebrated COVID-surg collaborative research group, detailing the studies and international trials currently underway.

Italian epidemic curve slide

Vittoria Belatto tweetThe session then focused on training from around the globe which included an update on Proximie - the augmented reality platform for virtual surgical collaboration, innovative educational resources currently available, and the growing importance of 3D imaging and printing in relation to surgical operations.

Day two also saw the stakes raised in our #ESCP2020COMP on Twitter, where we’re asking delegates to share photos of where in the world they are viewing from. Today we saw Vittoria Belatto catching up on sessions while on a flight thousands of miles in the air, some great landscape backdrops in Denmark and Germany and more examples of pets getting in on the act!

The global reach of #ESCP2020 was also highlighted on Twitter by Julio Mayol who shared a map of the world showing where participants were joining in the conversation online from (below). A fantastic image to show the breadth of support amongst the global colorectal community.

Tweet map

The second symposium of the day focused exclusively on the complex topic of faecal incontinence (FI). Charles Knowles (UK), Chair of ESCP's Research Committee, hosted a range of experts in the filed from across Europe who presented insightful and thought-provoking research on varying approaches and concepts in relation to the management and treatment of faecal incontinence - from sophisticated diagnostics to conservative treatments.

Topics discussed included preoperative work-up, anal pathophysiology, traumatic sphincter injuries and minimally invasive and novel surgical therapies.

Fascinating abstract presentations and standardised trainee videos were also shared in relation to the topics discussed which provided educational step by step guides to surgical procedures.


You can find more detailed re-caps of our Global Reach and Faecal Incontinence sessions in our individual session reviews.

Make sure you follow the latest updates from #ESCP2020 by following @escp_tweets on Twitter and downloading the official ESCP App from your Apple or Android app store.