CME 6 Session – EANM’12

Radio-guided Surgery and Intraoperative Imaging    

Educational objectives:

1. Explore all the possible fields of interaction between surgery and nuclear medicine
2. Emphasize the role of the surgeon on the nuclear medicine procedures
3. Review of the clinical impact of surgical nuclear medicine procedures, with particular emphasis on breast, gynecologic and head and neck cancers
4. Understand possible future application of radio-guided surgery

Summary:
This continuing education session is directed primarily towards nuclear physicians active in surgical procedures, but also towards surgeons, radiologists, trainees and nuclear medicine technologists. It will cover relevant aspects of Radio-guided Surgery and Intraoperative Imaging, in order to improve, standardize and validate these methodologies.
Indeed, current trend of oncological surgery is to adopt less aggressive and invasive approaches. Therefore, radionuclide imaging is becoming essential for i) accurate pre-surgical characterization of the surgical field and ii) optimizing and supporting surgical approaches tailored to the different disease- and patient-specific conditions. The growing indications for radio-guided sentinel lymph node procedures, combined with other emerging techniques, including pre- and peri-operative imaging and non-imaging procedures, will certainly lead at improving patient management and outcome. By attending the session, participants will get profound insights into the relationship between Surgery and Nuclear Medicine. An improved understanding of the current state-of-the art and recent developments in Radio-guided Surgery and Intraoperative Imaging covered in this session will help to increase acceptance of the methodologies at the participant’s hospital or private practice.

Key Words:
Nuclear Medicine, Radionuclide Surgery, Intraoperative Imaging