My experience submitting an educational abstract

Presenting author, “Percutaneous Transhepatic Variceal Embolisation (PTVE) of duodenal and rectal varices: an alternative option“

Why did you choose ET to submit your educational abstract?

ET has established itself as an outstanding conference under the auspices of CIRSE dedicated to the ever-evolving field of embolisation. Apart from being a well-orchestrated congress, it delivers high-quality information on the subject matter by pre-eminent speakers and provides an opportunity to share one’s experience with the rest of the IR community on a more global scale.

Tell us a little bit about the topic you submitted and why you chose this topic for your submission.

The topic I chose was “Percutaneous Transhepatic Variceal Embolisation (PTVE) of duodenal and rectal varices: an alternative option”. Although PTVE is a well-accepted procedure in the IR community, it is not widely adopted as there are more established forms of therapies like TIPS or retrograde transvenous obliteration along with endoscopic techniques to deal with these conditions, i.e. varices. I chose this topic to showcase my experience that this procedure, which albeit less frequently used, should always be an option when dealing with such cases, especially if the aforementioned primary therapies are contraindicated or not feasible.  

Why do you think this topic is important for IRs’ education?

By sharing my experience on this infrequently thought off and performed procedure, I hope to facilitate and cultivate a maxim for all IRs: besides learning and understanding the intricacies of IR medicine, to keep one’s mind open to all viable options to solve a problem.

Are there any special considerations to take into account when submitting an educational abstract?

For an educational abstract, the material you present should be comprehensive, contemporary, and succinct and yet should be effortlessly digested by the audience. 

Will you submit another abstract for ET 2024?

I am still pondering on a topic, but I am optimistic.