Dear Colleagues, dear paediatric surgeons, precious friends!

Let me cordially invite you to the 69th Congress of Czech and Slovak Paediatric Surgeons, which will find its home in České Budějovice in May 2025. Traditionally, the congresses organised by the Czech Society of Paediatric Surgeons will feature lectures in thematic blocks, but of course there will be enough space for everyone, including interesting case reports. It is a great pleasure that our event will be combined with the 31st National Conference of Professions Involved in Neonatal Care, because newborns are one of the age categories where we as paediatric surgeons are irreplaceable.

This year, this professional Society may announce anew a competition for the best lecture by an author under 35 years of age and will honour it with a financial award. This year, we are going to include two educational events in our programme again, which we have named Kafka’s lecture and historical lecture. In the first case, it is a detailed talk on a specific topic of paediatric surgery by a personality who has been dealing with the issue for a long time (often for a lifetime). In the case of the latter, the topic is a historical overview and development of a particular field of paediatric surgery, presented by a distinguished expert who has played a significant role in this development. I dare say that we have once again secured some real gems from our profession for these highlights.

The traditional meeting of paediatric surgeons from both our countries is as professional as it is social. I would be delighted if members of our Society would note the increased efforts of the CSPS committee to improve communication throughout the year. Be it by publishing news from meetings, quarterly newsletters, or hosting hybrid seminars. Meeting personally at this congress will be an opportunity to discuss and evaluate everything, and perhaps to propose further developments.

Dear Colleagues, take the time to meet at least once a year with those who face the same problems and experience the same joys you do in your workplaces every day. It doesn't matter if you come to talk about an atypical fracture, an exceptional set of patients with a rare diagnosis, or if you just talk in discussions or during breaks. We are all paediatric surgeons, and we deserve a wonderful large congress full of professional and human values. I will be on site, ready and looking forward to seeing each and every one of you.

prof. MUDr. Ladislav Plánka, Ph.D.
President of the Czech Society of Paediatric Surgeons CMA JEP

Dear friends of paediatric surgery,
many of you still remember the first autumn days and the Český-Krumlov-town theatre ten years ago, when we organised our regular congress in cooperation with the České Budějovice Hospital. In 2025, this event will return to South Bohemia. This time, we will be hosted by the South Bohemian metropolis, the royal city of České Budějovice. We have decided to change the format slightly, where we are organizing our event together with the neonatology conference focused on the care of newborns after surgical procedures.
We are looking forward to meeting you in the city under the Black Tower and we hope that the congress will be successful both professionally and socially.

On behalf of the organiser Radek Hanák M.D.,
Department of Surgery of
the Hospital České Budějovice, a. s.

Dear friends, colleagues,
Last year we celebrated 30th year of the National Conference of Health Professions in Newborn Care, organised in České Budějovice. I am very happy that in the following year we will have the opportunity to organise our event in a non-traditional way in cooperation with the paediatric surgery. It will give us the opportunity to connect our specialisations and I'm sure it will be beneficial for both parties. In the section of neonatology, we will focus on the nutrition of newborns in the post-operative period, as well as long-term parenteral nutrition during the hospital stay. The focus on nursing procedures in the post-operative period from different perspectives will also be enriching.

Chief Physician Jiří Dušek M.D.,
Neonatology Department,
České Budějovice Hospital, a. s.