AO Sports makes its debut at the AO Davos Courses with a focus on the knee as an organ
The on-site, face-to-face AO Sports Advanced Course—Knee Injuries and Deformities takes place December 1–3, 2021, at the Davos Congress Center. The three-day event features two days of lectures, case-based discussions, and interactive panel discussions, and a full day focused on practical exercises with anatomical specimens, surgical demonstrations, and an interactive session on preoperative planning with emphasis on correction of deformities around the knee.
The new course is one of more than 30 world-class educational opportunities planned for the AO Davos Courses 2021, taking place November 28–December 10. The hybrid event will include the best in face-to-face and online courses; some courses include an asynchronous part which begins November 7.
“The knee should be understood as an organ, where specialized tissues (bone, cartilage, menisci, ligaments) should interact in perfect synchrony to promote function,” says course Chairperson Mauricio Kfuri, director of the orthopedic residency program at the University of Missouri (United States), where he holds the James P. Stannard, MD, and Carolyn A. Stannard Distinguished Professorship in Orthopaedic Surgery. “With more than 60 years of shaping the future of medical education and a worldwide network of expert trauma and reconstructive surgeons, the AO is well-positioned to respond to the significant global need for unbiased education in sports medicine.”
Course Chairperson Yves Acklin, associate professor at the University of Basel (Switzerland) and site director of the University of Basel Orthopaedic Clinic at Bethesda Hospital, said participants can look forward to receiving a broad perspective on the knee joint, with a focus on the concept of the knee as an organ and attention to the synergistic interaction between soft tissues—ligaments, menisci, and cartilage— and bone as critical factors in promoting optimal function.
“The course will deliver a set of principles to guide surgeons in their decision-making while dealing with knee injuries and deformities,” said Acklin, adding that faculty will address the state-of-the-art in diagnosis, planning, and management of soft-tissue injuries and their complications. “Participants in this new, advanced-level course will learn from—and engage with—expert faculty from Germany, the United States, France, and Brazil.”
Kfuri and Acklin explained that taking a leadership role in the delivery of sports medicine education is a natural for the AO, which is constantly evolving to better meet the needs of its global network. Today, that includes providing gold-standard education on the surgical treatment of sports injuries and other soft-tissue conditions around the joint; surgical treatment of these conditions is closely related to classic orthopedic and trauma surgery—two specialties for which AO surgeons’ expertise is renowned.
The course—for which UEMS-EACCME® continuing medical education (CME) accreditation has been applied—is targeted to surgeons actively involved in management of traumatic, developmental, or degenerative knee disorders. Learn more—and register today—here. Get an overview of the AO Davos Courses 2021 here.