Page 54 - IFSO-History-Book-Digital-File

predicted no future for the Lap-Band in obesity treatment, and anticipated only limited adoption of
minimally invasive techniques in MBS, given the complexity of these patients and procedures.

Another major topic of discussion between Scopinaro and Angrisani was the potential risk
associated with the rapid spread of MBS procedures among surgeons lacking specific expertise in
obesity as a discipline. After nearly two years of lively discussions on this point, they conceived the
idea of bringing together the pioneers of open surgery, the “old guard,” with the emerging experts
in laparoscopic technique. Since the IFSO World Congress was already scheduled for Genoa, Italy in
2000, Scopinaro decided to organize this meeting in Naples, Italy in March, 1999. The initial name of
the meeting was Minimally Invasive Bariatric Surgery (MIBS), later changed by Scopinaro to the First
International Symposium of Laparoscopic Obesity Surgery (ISLOS).

The symposium was co-chaired by Scopinaro and Angrisani and was sponsored by the Italian
Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (SICOB), the International Federation for the Surgery of
Obesity (IFSO), the Italian Society of Endoscopic Surgery (SICE), and the European Association of
Endoscopic Surgery (EAES). It took place at the Continental Hotel in Naples from March 18-20, 1999
[Fig. 1]. The event also received strong support from international medical companies, which
immediately recognized the great potential of this emerging field.

Fig. 1. Program cover, First International Symposium
on Laparoscopic Obesity Surgery (ISLOS)

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