ESCP announced the winner of the best abstract research paper - ‘Secondary sphincter repair for anal incontinence following obstetric sphincter injury: functional outcome at 18-years follow-up’ by Malou Barbosa et al - at Vienna 2019 this week.
The paper looked at women who underwent a secondary sphincter repair in Denmark between January 1990 and December 2005. Functional outcome was then assessed in 370 women in 2010 and 255 women in 2018 which found that flatus incontinence was the most frequent symptom, reported by 97%. It also found that few patients are fully continent following a secondary sphincter repair. However, functional results appear to remain stable at very long-term follow-up.
Malou was confirmed as the winner on the back of their presentation at the ‘Six Best Papers’ session at the event which is attended and voted on by specialists from across Europe.
As winner, Malou is now invited to present the abstract at the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) meeting in Boston, Ma, USA in 2020.
The quality and quantity of papers submitted meant competition was greater than ever before with over 800 abstracts submitted from 51 different countries.
The five runners up include:
- Laparoscopic lavage versus primary resection for acute perforated purulent diverticulitis: Long-term outcomes from the Scandinavian randomised trial (SCANDIV) - Najia Azhar
- Adjuvant hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced colon cancer; the COLOPEC randomized trial - Daniel Wisselink
- Long term outcome in the Stockholm III trial for different radiotherapy regimens for rectal cancer - Johan Erlandsson
- Tailored treatment strategy for locally-advanced rectal carcinoma: 5-year results of the French phase II multicenter GRECCAR 4 trial - Philippe Rouanet
- Colostomy construction did not affect parastomal hernia rate: results from the Stoma-Const randomized controlled trial - Adiela Corrrea Marinez
The selection process to award the Top Paper is rigorous and fair. It includes expert reviewers in each topic area as well as further rounds of judging before the final six are chosen. They all then present at the conference and are graded by an additional independent assessment panel. In addition to scientific quality, the panel also considers the quality of the presentation and the ability of the speaker to answer questions and discuss the scientific findings.
New ESCP President, Willem Bemelman, said:
"This year we attracted more abstracts than ever before and the standard was exceptional. The 2019 six best papers demonstrate the range of clinical research being undertaken within the different fields of coloproctology internationally. We celebrate this innovation as it advances the science, knowledge and practice of coloproctology, which ultimately leads to better outcomes for patients."
"We congratulate Malou on excelling and being the worthy winner of Best ESCP Paper 2019."
