Overview of NOTES

Abstract

In the development of traditional surgery, surgical scars and pain were considered to be the inevitable outcome of surgery. In recent years, the emergence of natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) has completely led to a large transformation of the concept of surgical treatment, which accomplished visceral surgery without body surface approach. The NOTES, as the pioneer in minimally invasive era, has become a new target pursued by mankind. NOTES refers to the surgical approach with soft endoscopy for a variety of operations, including surgical exploration, biopsy, appendectomy, cholecystectomy, nephrectomy, and so on, passing through the natural cavity into the abdominal cavity, thoracic cavity, etc. NOTES procedures should be performed by a team of experienced endoscopists and laparoscopic surgeons. Doctors conducting NOTES need to receive multidisciplinary training in specialized endoscopy and surgical operations, in order to improve the operating skills as well as the skills of open and laparoscopic surgery. Under standardized management and systematic training, NOTES will become the next step of minimal invasive therapy. Furthermore, to promote the development of NOTES in clinical practice, the inaugural meeting of the NOTES Professional Committee of the Colorectal Tumor Professional Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association was held in the Bei**g Convention Center on August 31, 2018, with Professor Liu Bingrong as the chairman. The establishment of this academic organization also marks that Chinese NOTES has entered a new stage, and it also provides a good academic exchange platform and medium for the next stage development of NOTES.