AO Sports: from the injury to the athlete

AO Sports is the AO’s newest clinical specialty, fully launched in 2025. It provides education focused on the surgical treatment of sports related injuries and soft tissue conditions around the joints, with particular emphasis on the knee and shoulder. Building on the importance of technical excellence and clinical judgment, AO Sports addresses the specific clinical demands of athletes and physically active individuals.

While the four AO principles remain the foundation, clinical experience and a growing body of evidence show that in athletes, the fracture, ligament injury, or dislocation is often only part of the clinical picture.

In fact the broader context of sports injuries, such as training load, biomechanics, recovery, nutrition, psychological readiness, and external pressures from coaches, clubs, or families all influence injury patterns and outcomes. When a 15 year old footballer presents with a non contact ACL rupture and a very low body mass index, reconstruction alone is not the full answer. When a distance runner returns with a third stress fracture in eighteen months, the question extends beyond how to fix the injury to why it keeps happening.

AO Sports was created to address these questions within a structured, sports focused education framework inside the AO family and to apply established AO thinking to the care of athletes.

What AO Sports offers

AO Sports designs education for orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine fellows, and residents. The curriculum spans from foundational concepts, including The Joint Is an Organ, to advanced and master level programs addressing complex knee and shoulder pathology. As with all AO education, the format combines interactive case discussions, arthroscopic simulation, practical exercises, and experienced faculty.

The curriculum also addresses factors known to influence outcomes in athletic patients. These include criterion based return to sport decision making, recognition of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) as a factor affecting recovery and surgical outcomes, and the integration of rehabilitation into surgical planning rather than treating it as a downstream consideration.

Safeguarding in sport

Safeguarding in sport has emerged as an important topic in recent AO Sports discussions, including the AO Sports Fireside Chat at the 2025 AO Davos Courses. In sports medicine, safeguarding augments established child protection principles, addressing the risks associated with competitive athletic environments, such as overtraining, inadequate nutrition, psychological pressure, and performance driven cultures.

Surgeons are often the first clinicians to see injured young athletes. Recognized by organizations including the IOC, FIFA, World Athletics, and Swiss Sport Integrity as key actors in safeguarding, they may be well placed to recognize signs and recurring patterns like repeated injuries, energy deficiency, or reluctance to rest.