Looking forward to Malaga and IFSO-EC 2026
- owenhaskins
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
In this exclusive interview, Professor Luis Ocaña (Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria de Málaga, Spain), IFSO-EC Malaga 2026 Congress President, discusses some of the key highlights at this year’s meeting with a particular focus on the Pre-Congress Courses, the importance medication and surgery, collaboration with SECO (Spanish Society of Bariatric Surgery) and, of course, the sights and sounds of the beautiful city of Malaga...
“We have been working with huge enthusiasm preparing the 14th IFSO-EC Congress and 27th Sociedad Española De Cirugía De La Obesidad (SECO) Congress. Currently, we are expecting nearly 1,000 surgeons to come from all of Europe and other parts of the world, and more than 200 from Spain,” he explained, “When I decided to present our bid to host this Congress three years ago, one of the motivations was to encourage Spanish surgeons to attend as this is a fantastic opportunity to meet and network with European experts in bariatric surgery.”
The Congress will begin on 6th May with five pre-congress courses, including:
Bariatric endoscopy
Robariatrics
Lifespan after surgery - a multidisciplinary, patient-centered approach
OAGB and SADI-S one-loop surgery from concept to long-term care
SECO Course
“The Pre-Congress Endoscopy Course is designed to deliver focused, high-quality training in endoscopic practice, tailored to the needs of bariatric and metabolic clinicians. The course combines expert-led teaching with practical, hands-on learning to strengthen core endoscopic skills and clinical decision-making. Participants will refine scope handling, visualisation techniques, and procedural flow, while gaining insight into best practices for safety, quality assurance, and complication management. Teaching is delivered in small groups, allowing for personalised feedback and meaningful skill development.”
With a strong emphasis on real-world application, the course supports both trainees and experienced clinicians seeking to enhance confidence, precision, and performance in endoscopy. Particular attention is given to the role of endoscopy within bariatric practice, including complication management and primary bariatric endoluminal procedures, providing an ideal foundation ahead of the main scientific meeting.
This course offers an excellent opportunity to develop practical expertise in a structured, supportive environment and to begin the IFSO European Chapter Congress with skills that translate directly into improved patient care.
“The pre-congress course on Robotic Metabolic Bariatric Surgery (MBS), is ideal for surgeons seeking to introduce robotics into their practice. The course will offer participants a unique opportunity to deepen their knowledge of cutting-edge robotic platforms available nowadays in Europe. Expert robotic surgeons from different countries will show the participants how to best use these platforms in MBS. Hands-on training and interactive discussions are a crucial part of this course, and topics will include, for example, robotic system setup, advanced surgical manoeuvres, and patient selection criteria.”
The Integrated Health Course will focus on obesity specialists such as with endocrinologists, nutritionists, nurses and psychologists treat obesity as a chronic and very complicated disease. The Course will be focused across three workshops. The first will address the prescription of physical activity before and after metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS). It includes individualised exercise recommendations, strategies to enhance strength and preserve lean mass, safe progression guidelines, and coordination with nutritional management. Emphasis is placed on optimizing protein and energy intake alongside training to maintain functionality and maximize clinical outcomes.
The second workshop will concentrate on translating nutritional science into real-world cooking. Participants will explore culinary techniques, diet quality, food environment organization, and practical strategies to improve dietary adherence and metabolic health in individuals with obesity and those undergoing MBS. The session is designed for multidisciplinary clinical teams interested in integrating culinary education as a therapeutic tool in obesity care.
The third workshop will provides a practical, evidence-based update on morphofunctional assessment in patients with obesity and MBS. Participants will review advanced methods to evaluate body composition, energy expenditure, muscle function, and cardiometabolic parameters, with direct application to clinical decision-making and longitudinal follow-up in precision obesity care.The fourth pre-congress course, ‘OAGB and SADI-S One-Loop Surgery from Concept to Long-Term Care’ will compare the one-anastomosis gastric bypass with single anastomosis duodeno-ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy, wheerre experts will discuss physiology, techniques, tips and tricks, challenges, solutions and future of OAGB and SADI-S.
“Last, but not least, the ‘SECO Day’ will offer the broadest possible perspective on topics of interest related to surgery and other therapies for obesity. There will be discussions with national experts related to obesity and women, oncology and mental health. A second session, presented in an engaging video forum format, will explore aspects related to surgical technique, complications and innovation in surgery, as well as the management and prehabilitation of complex abdominal walls in patients with severe obesity.”
“We received a record 497 abstract submission of very high quality and we thank all the authors for their submissions. We are delighted to that there will be some 200 presentations, including ten parallel sessions, free paper sessions, abstract video sessions, five break-out sessions and E-poster discussions, and much more.”
Medications and surgery
“As you know, the last two or three years there has been the emergence of new GLP-1s, and as surgeons we need to collaborate with colleagues to decide the best treatment for our patients, this will be an important focus during this meeting. For example, we will discuss the possibilities of GLP-1s before surgery, and importantly, after surgery for instances of weight recurrence, as well as helping to manage diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, etc. It is important to emphasise, we are not talking about surgery or medication, rather they are both complementary. We are working together with endocrinologists and it's time to work together, because now we have very good medications for our patients.”
“We are going to talk about the evolution of surgery, about innovative education, multimodal treatment, patient engagement and current challenges. There will also be a focus on innovation versus evidence - we need to give our patient the best innovation, but it needs to be based on the best evidence – we cannot make explicit experiments with patients. We have to be very, very clear in this topic about the scientific evidence. There will also be discussions on how we develop novel technologies, but at the same time take care of the environmental aspects. Ultimately, we need to focus on how we treat more patients looking at costs, and also how we train the surgeons of the future and incorporate into our surgical theatres new innovative techniques and technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence.”
The IFSO-EC Quiz
The meeting in Malaga will also host the IFSO-EC Malaga Quiz Battle that will see a ‘Global all stars’ team (Ricardo Cohen, Brazil, Kelvin Higa, US, and Lilian Kow, Australia) pitched against the Spanish ‘Home team’ (Fatima Sabench , Amador Garcia Ruiz de Gorduela and Andres Sanchez Pernaute), the ‘European all stars’ (Bruno Dillemans, Belgium, Maud Robert, France and Francesco Rubino, UK) and finally the ‘Young IFSO guns’ (Daniel Felsenreich, Austria, Adisa Poljo, Switzerland and Panagiotis Lainas, Greece).
“For the IFSO-EC Malaga Quiz Battle we are going to select very, very important and complicated clinical cases and try to learn from each other, to see how experts from different regions of the world approach such cases, but at the same time, make it fun as we compete against each other!”
“We are preparing for the first day an open ceremony to welcome everybody and we hope to host the Mayor of Malaga who will welcome everyone to the Congress and to Malaga. After this, we will have a Plenary Session, the ‘Presidential Session’ that will include the Presidential Address by Paulina Salminen (Finland), an IFSO Position Statement: OMMs in the Context of MBS by Gerhard Prager (Austria), an IFSO Position Statement (Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology): MBS after Treatment with OMMs by Ricardo Cohen (Brazil), a Lancet Commission presentation by Francesco Rubino (United Kingdom) and Ricardo Cohen (Brazil), and a presentation on the EASO Framework by Volkan Yumuk (Turkey) and Barbara McGowan (UK).”
Málaga is one of the oldest cities in the world, founded in the 8th century by the Phoenicians. Today, art is everywhere and delegates can experience exhibits dedicated to glass and crystal, classic cars, contemporary installations, and, of course, the many works of Picasso.
“When I was preparing this congress, I wanted everybody to think not only about the meeting but also the sights and sounds of our wonderful city. Malaga now is considering in Spain as a town of museums. We have the Picasso Museum, Pompidou, we have Carmen Thyssen Museum and many, many, many others. This time of year is a very good time to go close to the sea, have dinner and enjoy our exceptional sea food, and then have a walk along the coast. We look forward to welcoming you to our beautiful city.”
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