AO Trauma Course—Foot and Ankle Trauma

AO Trauma’s foot and ankle curriculum offers a wide range of competency-based activities and resources that support your educational needs. The Masters-level course is aimed at traumatologists, orthopaedic surgeons and other surgeons actively engaged in the treatment of foot and ankle fractures, who want to increase their level of specialization in lower limb treatment.

The courses teach current concepts and techniques of complex foot and ankle surgery, aiming at full functional restoration of the injured foot. Participating surgeons concentrate on the application of surgical planning and advanced techniques in the management of complex foot and ankle injuries.

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Why you should choose this course

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Course content

Course modules
Module 1: Ankle trauma

Module 1a: Ankle fractures

Module 1b: Pilon fractures

Module 2: Hindfoot trauma

Module 2a: Calcaneal fractures

Module 2b: Talar fractures

Module 3: Midfoot trauma

Module 3a: Lisfranc fractures

Module 3b: Chopart/navicular fractures

Module 4: Forefoot trauma

Module 5: Soft-tissue trauma

Module 6: Anatomical specimen workshops full day

Module 7: Minimally invasive osteosynthesis
Practical exercises
Pilon Fracture:

Perform a lateral and an anteromedial approach to treat a C-type pilon fracture

Apply a medial DCP distal tibial plate to fix a pilon fracture

Calcaneal fracture:

Identify the fragments of a typical calcaneal articular fracture, perform a lateral L-shape calcaneal approach,

Reproduce the fixation with a calcaneal locking plate

Lisfranc fractures:

Perform dorsomedial and dorsolateral approaches to fix a Lisfranc injury

Perform a staged fixation of multiple rays

Lisfranc dislocation

Perform fixation of the first, second and third rays with plates

Review the principles of Lisfranc injuries fixation+
Anatomical Specimen Workshops
Specimen 1

Talar neck fracture approaches

Talar dome exposure; fibular and medial malleolar osteotomies

Gastroc slide (ensure long enough specimens)

Lapidus

Plantar plate repair

Minimally invasive approach for calcaneal fractures

Sustentacular approach for calcaneal fractures

Pilon approaches

Specimen 2

Posterior ankle scope

Subtalar arthroscopy

SPLATT

Interosseous tibialis posterior tendon transfer

Extensile lateral approach for calcaneal fractures

Posterior bone block arthrodesis

Compartment syndrome release (foot/leg)

1st metatarsal osteotomy for the correction of hallux valgus

1st MTPJ fusion

FHL tendon transfer for Achilles or peroneal insufficiency

FDL tendon transfer for flatfoot

Course details may be subject to change. Please check your chosen date and location for the detailed program.

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Target audience

Foot and ankle specialists early in their careers
Generalists (orthopedics) spending about 20 percent of their time on trauma (including community surgeons)
Foot and ankle experts
Trauma surgeons

Course impressions

Competencies

The curriculum is based upon 8 competencies:

Perform adequate clinical evaluation and workup
Recognize the potential for higher complication rates in patients with comorbidities, and plan appropriately
Apply appropriate timing and staging in the treatment of fractures and dislocations, including polytrauma
Recognize the indications and goals for reconstruction and perform procedures or refer, subject to expertise
Select and perform appropriate surgical procedures, including handling of soft tissue
Apply the principles of internal fixation and bone healing, including minimally invasive surgery
Educate the patient regarding rehabilitation and prescribe an appropriate program
Recognize and manage early and late complications

What does competency-based curriculum development mean?

Resources

Foot and ankle education task force

The foot and ankle education taskforce is a group of experts who build and continuously improve our educational program. It consists of three international program editors (IPEs).

See a full list of all regional program contributors and past international program editors.