Welcome Message
Dear Members of IPEG, Dear Colleagues, Dear Friends,
Welcome to IPEG’s 34th Annual Congress. For those joining us for the first time and our new members, warmly welcome to our warm society. We are excited to bring the most innovative pediatric surgeons across the earth together in Kagoshima, Japan, on May 27-29, 2025.
In the past, Prof. Takeshi Miyano hosted the IPEG Congress at Makuhari, Japan in 1997, Prof. Atsuyuki Yamataka hosted at Buenos Aires, Argentine in 2007, and Prof. Tadashi Iwanaka hosted at Beijin, China in 2013. In addition, Prof. Maria Marcela Bailez, the first female IPEG President, hosted at Fukuoka, Japan, in 2016. It is a great honor to be me, I am the fourth Japanese President of the IPEG, and Kagoshima will be the third city in Japan to host the IPEG.
As you know, IPEG was founded in 1991 as an international organization that fosters new ideas, techniques, innovations, and education in pediatric minimally invasive surgery. The goals of the IPEG are to ensure that all pediatric surgeons, pediatric urologists, and general surgeons who treat infants and children have access to current information defining the best, least invasive surgical treatment and to encourage the development and evaluation of those treatments through peer-to-peer communication, education, and research.
During the past few years, the world took an unexpected turn and we all had to face a lot of changes and challenges, both personal and professional. These have certainly been complex times for us. At the same period, IPEG also changed its organization, management system, and congress style under the no change of our goals. So we choose “ReBORN, IPEG” as the theme of the 34th Annual Congress. From now IPEG will change “New” IPEG.
This year’s IPEG Congress received 511 abstract submissions, each of which underwent a rigorous review process by three independent reviewers. All accepted abstracts are of outstanding quality, and this year’s program is particularly notable for the strong presence of presentations by young residents and trainees.
In the Panel Discussions, international experts will address esophageal atresia and the Kasai procedure for biliary atresia-conditions for which surgical techniques and perioperative management have dramatically evolved over the past two decades. Additionally, we have planned interactive, audience-participation discussions using Google Forms, allowing attendees to engage more directly in the conversation.
We will also host discussions on robotic surgery and ICG navigation, both of which are gradually becoming more prevalent in pediatric minimally invasive surgery, with presentations by experienced pediatric surgeons.
This Congress will serve as a valuable opportunity for participants to share academically significant knowledge not only on surgical techniques but also on diagnosis and management in the field of pediatric minimally invasive surgery.
Led by program chairs of Go Miyano & Tetsuya Ishimaru, the team would make an amazing program thinking about those who will attend the congress.
Sincerely,
Satoshi IEIRI
President of the IPEG