ESSKA Update 3-6 May 2016

I attended the 17th ESSKA Congress in Barcelona. ESSKA stands for “European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy”. This is the best educational meeting that I attend, as the subject matter reflects my areas of interest in sports knee surgery.

The sessions on medial collateral ligament reconstruction and complex meniscal repair were the most useful. There was also a very interesting session on ski injuries of the knee.

I spent a very enjoyable evening teaching the Worcester Warriors medical staff, including their team doctors, paramedics, physiotherapists and strength and conditioning coaches. I covered knee anatomy, anterior cruciate ligament injuries, including examination of the injured knee. I was lucky enough to have two patients with ACL injuries who came along for the evening, so I could demonstrate knee examination.

I then gave a talk on postero-lateral corner injuries and their management. It was also interesting to learn about how an elite club monitor their soft tissue injuries.

I was asked to join the faculty for this instructional meeting in Basingstoke. The meeting covered various aspects of ligament reconstruction and meniscal repair and transplantation.

I delivered a short lecture and assisted with a meniscal transplantation demonstration.

I co-convened the prestigious Sports Knee Surgery 2015 meeting which is regarded as the premier sports knee meeting in the UK. We were proud to host surgeons who made up an exceptional faculty from as far afield as USA, Canada, Japan and many parts of Europe.

I delivered several talks and chaired many of the sessions, which covered all aspects of modern sports knee surgery management.

I was glad to finish this gruelling competition! It turned out to be the hottest day in Germany since
records began, culminating in a non-wetsuit swim and a brutal bike and run. The
local support was unbelievable and without their hosepipes and a mountain of ice
I would have faded!!

The International Society of Arthroscopy Knee Surgery + Orthopaedic Sports
Medicine run this conference biannually. It is attended by surgeons from all
over the world with scientific presentations on the latest developments and
results in sports surgery. I spent a morning in theatre with an impressive Lyon
surgeon to see his ACL and anterolateral ligament reconstruction techniques.

This visit was to attend the Arthrex UK Knee Symposium which was held in the
very impressive, state of the art, surgical training ‘Arthrolab’ in Munich. My
particular aim was to learn a new posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction
technique but I also got the chance to use a new jig to help perform
trochleoplasty (a patella stabilisation operation) and was the first to use it
in the UK the following week.

I attended the UK’s premier osteotomy meeting – a masterclass for experienced
surgeons to develop the latest skills and techniques in realignment osteotomy to
treat early arthritis and knee instability. There are some interesting new
plates being developed and the latest planning software is impressive.

I was invited to attend the third Danish patello-femoral meeting in Copenhagen where I gave five talks over a two day meeting. The meeting covered various aspects of patello-femoral problems, but had a major focus on patello-femoral joint replacement. I learnt the preliminary results of an important Danish study comparing patello-femoral and total knee replacement. The meeting was attended by Danish consultants and the other speakers were from Bristol, Lyon in France and Copenhagen.

I attended an excellent meeting in Oxford with a high quality international faculty discussing some key issues in knee surgery. There were excellent presentations including the latest research on various aspects of keyhole surgery and osteotomy. There was also excellent discussion and debate about the National Joint Registry and partial knee replacement.