The Section has actively participated in the promotion of new, minimally invasive surgical procedures in Poland and has contributed greatly to the development of surgical laparoscopy, thoracoscopy and endoscopy. The Section has organized annual symposia and a number of workshops involving surgical operations performed and broadcast "live" to the conference hall. Also, a number of workshops aimed at improving the professional skills of surgeons have been held under the auspices of the Section. In 2006 we celebrated the Jubilee of the 15th Anniversary during a symposium in Kielce.

In 1999, the first joint Polish-Czech-Slovak Symposium took place in Ustronie, Poland. Since then, the symposium has been held on an annual basis alternately in the three countries. The main goal of the symposia before Poland’s EU entry was the exchange of knowledge between the three neighbouring countries and the tradition will also be continued in the future. The last, 10th Jubilee trilateral Symposium took place in October 2008 in Wisła, Poland.

Since 1994, the Section has edited the Videochirurgia quarterly journal, which serves as a forum for the exchange of scientific knowledge, description of interesting cases, presentation of new surgical techniques, as well as recent achievements and experiences of surgeons in laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures. In 2005, the range of topics covered by the quarterly was extended and, consequently, the title was changed to: Videosurgery and other miniinvasive techniques. Also, another patronage was included in the journal – that of the Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Section of the Association of Polish Surgeons. Since 2008 it has been edited in English, with the Polish version on its own web page www.videosurgeryjournal.com. It has an international board, and is available in many countries. In 2010 it obtained an impact factor for 2009 of 0.826, which is a great success. The editor-in-chief of the journal is Prof. Tadeusz Wróblewski.

The Section has more than 400 active members, as well as numerous applicants and supporters. The Section is a member of the European Association of Endoscopic Surgery (EAES) and has representatives in the management board of the EAES. In 2008 the possibility of combined membership with EAES was introduced for preferential conditions. It allows one to obtain reduced fees for congresses organized by the EAES, gives access to many different databases, and provides a free subscription to the journal Surgical Endoscopy.

In 2005, the Section applied to the National Consultant for Surgery to modify the curriculum of surgeons’ education to include laparoscopic surgery as part of surgery specialization. This Programme was started in 2009 and contributes to raising the Polish level of surgery, educating residents and all surgeons wanting to start or perfect their skills in videosurgery. It consists of a theoretical update workshop and one week stay in one of the reference departments when residents can practise their videosurgical skills. Through its whole activity the Section contributes to the introduction and development of videosurgery in many branches of Polish surgery.