Fifth Scientific & Annual General Meeting European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP) Sorrento, Italy

The fifth Scientific Congress of the European Society of Colon proctology (ESCP) was held in Sorrento from the 22nd to the 25th September. There’s no doubt that it was a great success thanks to the attendance of more than a thousand delegates, also for the quality and the abundance of the contents of its scientific programme and for the unanimous acknowledgement on behalf of well known surgeons from overseas of the extremely high level of scientific research and of the practical experience in the field of colorectal surgery which has been reached and consolidated in Europe. The congress occurred at the same time as the end of the president Giovanni Romano’s mandate. If it is true that Europe has given and is still giving a good account of itself, in addition to this a reason of satisfaction is the fact that Italian Colorectal Surgery has played a leading role in the attainment of this objective. The Italian members of the Society are the second national group after the UK and the number of scientific contributions presented at the congress is significant also the articles published in the association’s official journal (Colorectal Disease) are increasing more and more and this is a great reward that pays for the efforts made by the SICCR to increase the level of scientific research. A reason of pride is also the increasing number of applicants for the European Board (ESBQ). Although this title is still not recognised officially in any European country, there’s no doubt that in the future it will be a dividing line for quality and reflect the professionalism of European surgeons. Last but not least we should mention that at the congress in Sorrento professor Filippo La Torre was elected as Italian representative and has taken the place of professor Carlo Ratto who we would like to thank for his significant contribution regarding the diffusion of the programmes and objectives of the European Society.