SICOT e-Newsletter

During the weekend of 16 and 17 February 2013, the Joints Surgery and Sports Medicine Congress was organised in Tbilisi, Georgia. The main organisers were Drs Michael Zimlitski, Vaja Gaphrindashvili and Levan Natchkebia from Tbilisi. The congress was organised under the patronage of SICOT and the supervision of Prof Jochen Eulert, SICOT Secretary General.


I spoke about SICOT at the Opening Ceremony. The ideas of SICOT are very viable in Georgia and the surrounding countries such as Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey. Many orthopaedic surgeons have a great interest in being a member of SICOT.

The venue was an orthopaedic hospital in the centre of Tbilisi in a well-furnished hall. The scientific lectures were combined with workshops and live surgeries. The topics were well chosen and included ACL anatomical reconstruction, shoulder impingement syndrome, and growth factor "PRP", which were interesting to all participants.

The quality of the lectures was highlighted with presentations by well-known orthopaedic surgeons. Dr Ramon Cugat from Barcelona presented his experience in sports traumatology, especially meniscal injuries and ACL replacement complications; Prof Bertram Zarins from Boston delivered very good lectures about patella tendon rupture after mid-third patella tendon graft and in the afternoon he continued with rotator cuff and shoulder impingement. After Prof Zarins' first lecture, I continued with a presentation on ACL reconstruction in adults and children. Questions especially about the paediatric surgery triggered a lot of discussion.

It was a great honour for the organisers to count on the presentation of former President of the Republic of Latvia, Dr Valdis Zatlers, an active orthopaedic surgeon who presented a lecture on structural graft techniques in TKR.

A special part of the sessions was focused on growth factor treatment. The science and practice were presented by Dr Montse Garcia from Barcelona. Drs Cugat, Natchkebia, and Lapanashwilli from Georgia presented their own experiences on the treatment. Live surgeries at the end of each day were performed by Drs Cugat and Zarins with excellent results and the satisfaction of all spectators.

The friendly atmosphere of the Congress was crowned by the social activities for spouses and a dinner at a famous folklore restaurant in the recreational area of Tbilisi.

The Joints Surgery and Sports Medicine Congress in Tbilisi was very successful and was a great opportunity to present the activities and ideas of SICOT. It demonstrated the ability of all SICOT members in the whole world to organise a great meeting in close cooperation with the SICOT Ambassadors.
 
It is necessary to mention that the Congress was dedicated to the memory of Dr Jean-Pierre Dubos, who had a good contact with Georgia. His friends could not forget his contribution to the cooperation between Georgia and "old" Europe. Mrs Dubos was invited to the Congress and I am sure she spent some good moments with friends.

Due to the success of this small meeting, I hope my friends in Georgia will think about holding a larger SICOT meeting in the future. I am sure that the SICOT members will love it.