Portuguese Society of Digestive Endoscopy: publications

The Portuguese Society of Digestive Endoscopy (SPED), set up in 1979, is a scientific society for doctors and other professionals working with or interested in Digestive Endoscopy. Its objectives include promoting the development of Digestive Endoscopy at the service of health in Portugal and the dissemination of knowledge and research in this field. SPED also seeks to further national and international exchanges between professionals, implement standards of training and practice in Digestive Endoscopy, and promote educational initiatives for doctors and other technicians.

In the light of these overall objectives, SPED publishes a number of periodicals and other publications with a view to disseminating information not only amongst doctors and other health professionals but also to the general public. Its flagship publication is Endonews, a quarterly periodical, which, with a circulation of ten thousand, is the most widely distributed medical journal in the country. It is aimed at specialists in General Medicine and Family Practice, Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine, Surgery and Rheumatology, and has already published twenty two issues. The content is of a general medical nature, and includes interviews, review articles and clinical cases, as well as useful information and reports on scientific meetings. The Society also collaborates regularly with the bimonthly journal GE – Jornal Português de Gastrenterologia (“Portuguese Journal of Gastroenterology”), the official organ of the Portuguese Society of Gastroenterology.

SPED's non-periodical publications, for their part, include Recomendações (“Recommendations”), a series of practical guides designed to orient doctors in the use of digestive endoscopic techniques. To date, over twenty have already been issued, covering a variety of subjects such as endoscopic hemostasis, informed consent, colorectal cancer screening, endoscopic treatment of esophageal stenosis, foreign body ingestion, gastric epithelial dysplasia, endoscopic practice in the elderly, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy/jejunostomy, endoscopic procedures in biliary gallstone disease, preparation and monitoring of patients during digestive endoscopy, and sedation and analgesia in digestive endoscopy among others. SPED also publishes a series of booklets entitled Monografias Clínicas (“Clinical Monographies”), aimed at General Practitioners. These offer clear practical information on up-to-date subjects in the area of Gastroenterology, such as: the prevention and treatment of NSAID-induced gastrointestinal lesions; practical proctology; gastro-esophageal reflux disease; pediatric gastroenterology; probiotics in clinical practice, and digestive endoscopy. Other non-periodical publications published by SPED are: Temas de Revisão (“Reviews”), aimed at interns and specialists in Gastroenterology, and O que deve saber sobre (“What you should know about …”), providing information on a variety of issues for the general public.

SPED is currently planning the publication of an atlas of digestive endoscopy to commemorate its 30th anniversary. This has been made possible by the vast range of iconographic material yielded by fourteen editions of the Endoscopic Photography Competition, an annual contest in which prizes are awarded to the best photographic entries sent in by doctors, and which usually attracts over a hundred entries. The atlas, organized in accordance with the segments of the digestive tube and by pathology, will be based upon these photographs, each of which will be accompanied by a brief text.

The production of newsletters for publication in Endoscopy is an integral part of SPED's editorial strategy, and constitutes one of the channels through which the Society publicises its activities and presents scientific work.

Pedro N. Figueiredo, MD, PhD
On behalf of the Editorial Committee of the Portuguese Society of Digestive Endoscopy