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ESSM
Today
Meeting report ESSM 2017: Highlights from Nice
by Maarten Albersen
Nice 2017
This year, the annual meeting of the European
Society of Sexual Medicine was held on the
beautiful Cote d’Azur in close collaboration with
the Association Interdisciplinaire post-Universi-
taire de Seologie and the Société Francophone
de Médicine Sexuelle. Local chairs hosting us
in the lovely city of Nice were Antoine Faix and
Daniel Chevallier who did an outstanding job.
A total of 1.077 participants enjoyed the city
during the congress. With 7 master lectures,
4 debates, 19 round tables and 10 workshops
the scientific program was very successful. In-
ternational experts demonstrated cutting edge
techniques and new tricks in live surgeries.
More than 200 abstracts have been presented.
Participants attended from several countries all
over Europe and other parts of the world who
come from different professional backgrounds
including sexology, psychology, general medicine,
gynecology, endocrinology, basic-translational
research and urologists.
The biopsychosocial model and the
implications for a multidisciplinary
society
As suggested in a 1977 article in science, psy-
chiatrist George L. Engel called for "the need for
a new medical model." And at that time offered
a starting point for broader understanding of
clinical practice. The biopsychosocial model is
a broad view that attributes disease outcome
to the intricate, variable interaction of biological
factors (genetic, biochemical, (patho)physiologi-
cal, etc), psychological factors (mood, personal-
ity, behavior, etc.), and social factors (cultural,
familial, socioeconomic, medical, etc.). In Sexual
Medicine, this model has been broadly adopted
as the standard approach to issues pertaining to
sexual function and dysfunction. In this light, the
ESSM every year again aims to provide a truly
multidisciplinary meeting, where delegates from
different fields of Sexual Medicine find a platform
to interact, network, and educate themselves not
only in their own specific area, but also gets a
view from other disciplines on how they would
approach a patient with a sex-related problem.
To this end, in Nice we hosted well-attended
multidisciplinary sessions aimed at broadening
knowledge across disciplines on the role of the
pelvic floor in both male and female sexual dys-
functions, sexuality in cancer patients, sexuality
in adolescence, sex-related pain, transgender
care, metabolic diseases and sexual dysfunc-
tions, sexually transmitted diseases, infertility and
psychiatric comorbidities. Besides, we provide
highly specialized sessions aimed at deepening
knowledge on specific clinical situations which
may help clinicians with detailed tips & tricks,
such as the live surgery sessions. In the coming
years, we will poll the ESSM membership and
congress attendees to get an oversight of what
topics they would like to see discussed in the
future congresses in order to fit the needs of all
attendees in the best manner possible.
Education and science
The ESSM’s core business is the advancement
of both science and education in Sexual Medi-
cine. Besides providing the newest science, we
therefore invest in educating the younger gen-
erations, also during the congress. To this end,
ESSM17 boasted 10 workshops and tips-and-
tricks sessions which are as always included in
the registration fee, so no extra fee is required
to attend these intensive, interactive and fo-
cused sessions on different topics within Sexual
Medicine. In addition, a sexual medicine update
pre-congress course was organized providing
case-based education and how-I-do-it sessions
by experts in the field.
Hot topics & prize winners
As the ESSM organizes the largest sexual medi-
cine congress worldwide, attendees can expect
the newest research in the field to be presented
at this stage. A variety of hot topics were trend-
ing during ESSM17. Low-intensity shockwave
therapy for male sexual dysfunction for exam-
ple, has been around for some years but only
recently a worldwide increased interest for this
novel treatment modality is observed. Although
it is regarded as promising by many, questions
remain about the ideal treatment protocol, the
ideal device to be used, and the quality of evi-
dence and many discussions on these topics
have been conducted during the conference.
This is likely a treatment strategy that will be
omnipresent in future congresses as well as it
may well be the first restorative, not sympto-
matic treatment for men with ED. Other clinical
discussions in male sexual dysfunction revolved
around testosterone replacement, penile implant
surgery, Peyronie’s disease and premature ejac-
ulation where new discoveries and educational
events refine the clinical practice of the many
healthcare providers who take care of men with
sexual dysfunction in their daily practice (prize
winners male sexual dysfunction: Marco Capece,
United Kingdom; Nikolaos Ioakeimidis, Greece;
Athanasios Zachariou, Greece; Walter Cazzaniga,
Italy). In preclinical developments we observed
during ESSM17 that we are still struggling to
understand the pathophysiology of very com-
mon conditions like post-radical prostatectomy
erectile dysfunction and Peyronie’s disease. On
the bright side however, several abstracts were
presented highlighting that the search for novel
therapies -such as stem cell therapy, regenera-
tive medicine using biomolecules and pharmaco-
Maarten albersen, Md, Phd
Asst. Professor in Urology,
Department of Urology, University
Hospitals Leuven, Belgium
maartenalbersen@hotmail.com