In May 1997 the Faculty of Surgery from the University of Athens and elsewhere gathered with colleagues in Athens for the third time in 6 years to continue our discussions on the progress, problems, realization, and future of laproscopic surgery. The topics were rather inclusive with regard to the issues that defined the field, and the assembled investigators, educa tors, and clinicians brought a rich experience and clear vision of the field in the coming years. The decision had been made months before to collect our thoughts and experience as a colloquium of the state of laproscopic surgery in the tenth year following the report of Mouret on laparoscopic cholecy stectomy, not as the proceedings of the specific meeting. At the end of a decade of mercurial advance, heated debate, professional turmoil, and very little science, it was clear that general surgery would never be the same. Laproscopic surgery is now fully established and requires accommodation in the curriculum, practice, and research of surgery for the foreseeable future. This book is called a colloquium on laparoscopy because it collects the thoughts of many workers in the form of consensus presentations. It is offered to any surgeon who is ready to survey this field with clear eyes, absent of emotion or hyperbole, in our evolution of a better standard of care for surgical patients."

This work is derived from the International Symposium on Advanced Laparo-Endoscopic Surgery, reknowned for being a comprehensive program that brings together international leaders in the field to discuss the current state of practice, the emerging possibilities and the future directions for research. The program focuses on the experiences in large series which have set the standard of practice and won acceptance for laparo-endoscopic surgery in recent years; the panelists and lecturers span the field from concept to realization. The program also addresses the evaluation process by which innovations should be judged in the interest of safety, clinical efficacy and cost effectiveness to improve the delivery of surgical care in the world. The symposium clebrates the firm establishment of laparo-endoscopic surgery and the promise of the future. Together, members of the panel outline future innovations that will change the practice of laparoscopic surgery, showcasing the future of robotics, virtual reality, telesurgery, needlescopic surgery, minimally-invasive breast surgery, cryotherapy and live donor nephrectomy.Highlights include contributions by John Hunter (Endo-Gastric Surgery), Dana Anderson (Repair Common Bile Duct Injury), Jack Jackimowicz (European Laparoscopic Hernia Multi-Institutional Study), Alfred Cuschieri and John Flowers (Role of Clinical Trial for New Procedures).