NEWS

Shining at light on endoscopy at ESGE Days 2025

The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy was thrilled to host ESGE Days 2025 in Barcelona, Spain, and online, between April 3–5, 2025.

With over 4,800 onsite registrations - representing a 24 % increase in in-person attendance compared to the previous year – plus hundreds of online registrations, we couldn’t be happier to bring the endoscopic community together again to ‘shine a light on endoscopy’ by sharing science, education, and inspiration at what has become Europe’s premier endoscopy focused meeting.

Our venue was the Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB), with it’s renowned conference facilities and appealing coastal location. Digital delegates enjoyed the state-of-the-art digital platform created by our technical team CYIM, offering an intuitive, easy to use site.

As always, scientific abstracts formed the backbone of the meeting. ESGE Days 2025 received a record breaking 1920 abstract submissions from 70 different countries, and those accepted have been published in an Endoscopy journal supplement which can be found here. Onsite, abstracts were showcased via our interactive ePoster stations, oral presentations in our innovative Poster Domes, and in our ever-popular oral presentation sessions. The 6 recipients of the best abstract award presented in our plenary Presidential Session.

Our 2025 Postgraduate Course was fully in-person, and the evidence-based curriculum spanned luminal and hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) endoscopy. Delivered via case-based lectures, video demonstrations, and expert panels, the first year of a twoyear series aimed to equip both early career and well established endoscopists with a grounding - or refresh - in the basics plus advanced endoscopic knowledge.

The highlight of Day Two was the live demonstrations of endoscopy from University Hospital Ramón y Cajal (IRYCIS, Madrid), led by Prof. Enrique Vázquez Sequeiros, covering both routine and advanced techniques.

Our annual meeting is the perfect chance to celebrate achievements from our community. We were thrilled to congratulate the winners of our Innovation of the Year Award in a special session on our Spotlight Stage, watch the ESGE Research Grant finalists battle for funding in the Research Champions’ Den, and hear the fresh and pioneering research that the Next Generation Awardees are involved in during their dedicated session. ‘The Days’ is also the perfect chance for some of our groups to get together, such as the Mentorship Programme meet up, organized by the Diversity Equality and Inclusion Working Group.

It was a pleasure to work very closely with our local society the Spanish Society of Digestive Endoscopy (SEED) during the planning of ‘the Days’. They coordinated a symposium on the topic of sedation (in Spanish) and endo-hepatology (in English), led by Prof. Vicente Pons Beltrán.

We increased the number of our ever-popular Hands-On Training sessions from 88 to 108 and were pleasantly surprised that they again sold out, with the ‚Cutting edge’ courses proving particularly popular. These small-group, immersive practical sessions are capped at 5–6 participants per station, and were led by ESGE experts, delivering a personalized and intense learning experience.

As always, our colleagues from ESGENA played a vital role in the execution of our meeting. Along with a joint ESGE and ESGENA session, our nursing colleagues also hosted the ESGENA Spring School, plus presented a growing number of abstracts in dedicated sessions.

Our green endoscopy mission continued, with the option for delegates to contribute to carbon offsetting projects during the registration process and the inclusion of a free public transport ticket with registration. Potentially more impactful was that we made green endoscopy a vital feature through the scientific programme, for example the live demonstrations included discussion and presentation of best practice techniques.

This year our informal, studio style interview platform – the Spotlight Stage – was busier than ever. Using ‘silent disco’ headphones delegates were able to drop-in on discussions during the session breaks on topics such as our latest POEM curricular or how to implement VR into your endoscopy practice.

Also new for this year was the inaugural ESGE Legacy Project which focused on colorectal cancer prevention and awareness, coordinated through a variety of different actions including a Fun Run and Walk, and an educational session in a local school. It was made possible due to collaboration with the Barcelona Convention Bureau and the Association Against Cancer in Barcelona and we couldn’t be prouder that our meeting will be leaving a positive legacy in the Barcelona community for many years to come.

Finally, a great time was had by all who took part in the ESGE Challenge. The teams of early career endoscopists battled it out through a series of fun yet challenging questions, testing their GI endoscopy knowledge and teamwork. Portugal came in first, narrowly beating runners up Romania to scoop the prizes of free ESGE Days 2026 registrations, Young Endoscopists Party tickets and of course much kudos for being the European champions!

ESGE Past President Ian Gralnek, the ESGE Governing Board and myself would like to pass on their thanks to all involved in ESGE Days 2025. ESGE Days 2026 will take place in the vibrant and culturally rich city of  Milan, Italy, May 14 – 16, with the onsite Postgraduate Course on May 13, 2026. It is with the greatest enthusiasm that we encourage everyone with a passion for GI endoscopy to join us next year where we will be ‘Reimagining Endoscopy’ together.

Professor Cesare Hassan,
ESGE President