The primary aim of the UGIRA is to establish an international cooperation for the effective implementation and advancement of esophagogastric robotic surgery. To achieve this, various initiatives are executed:
- To form effective training programs that involve proctoring by experienced surgeons.
In order to safely implement esophageal and gastric robotic surgery, training pathways that involve proctoring should be followed. The society will serve as the core platform to establish these training pathways and to appoint proctors in all continents.
- To initiate international studies by establishing a web-based registry.
An international registry is created to enable international collaboration on research that focuses on robotic elements of esophagogastric surgery. To this end, a Registry was recently opened.
- To establish standardized guidelines for robotic esophageal and gastric surgical procedures.
The approach to robotic esophageal and gastric surgical procedures should be standardized by formulating step-by-step guidelines. These guidelines will encompass robotic surgery for both benign (i.e. hiatal hernia, fundoplication) and malignant disease (i.e. esophageal and gastric cancer), with the exception of bariatric procedures.