Esvot 2008 Congress

Thu 8 January 2009 23:12

Informations

ESVOT 2008

The ESVOT 2008 Congress was arguably the best ever ESVOT meeting. This was Munich's swansong as a venue for the ESVOT Congress and what a send off it was! 440 delegates including over 75 speakers descended on this great city at the Ludwig Maximilian's University Veterinary School, which has such a privileged location, close to downtown Munich but on the perimeter of the "Englischer Garten" giving a sense of the countryside. Once again, Professor Uli Matis and her diligent team played hosts to our society and the society certainly owes her and them a huge debt of gratitude for their hard work and dedication over the 12 years that they have hosted the meeting.

The meeting was preceded by several pre-congress wet-labs, dry-labs and seminars, a feature whoch makes ESVOT so special in Europe. Here, surgeons could come together to learn the latest techniques: the TATE^TM system for elbow replacement, total knee replacement, Kyon total hip, Arthrex suture anchors and other techniques, and so on. The labs were booked to capacity and the enthusiasm for learning was infectious.

Thursday evening marked the opening ceremony where President Aldo Vezzoni welcomed all to Munich in the glamorous Hotel Bayerischer Hof, a venue previously graced by other well-known presidents (e.g. Bush, Putin). The brass quartet from the veterinary school treated us to music, lead by the Dean on second trombone - how many other schools boast such a talented dean, especially when most are known for blowing their own trumpet?! Next, just in time, Dr Bill Deehof delivered the biannual Saki Paatsama lecture. It was a very entertaining meander through the history and connections between the pioneers of veterinary surgery, Saki included. Bill's delivery was supreme and the connection with Sophia Loren gradually became apparent; I should warn Dr Deehof that Microsoft Powerpoint has not helped us shake of the Marcello Mastroianni moments!

The main Congress was initiated and punctuated by state-of-the-art lectures by great speakers such as Dr Nathan Sutter (Cornell), Dr Christine Théoret (Montreal), Dr Richard Evans (Illinois) and Professor Peter Clegg (Liverpool). They all delivered lectures worthy of any scientific lectern and with material that crossed species' boundaries.

The programme offered three main small animal streams, one equine stream and concomitant free communication sessions. The Society is so grateful to all the wonderful speakers who prepared their material and delivered their lectures so professionally to an attentive, enthusiastic and critical audience. There was so much to choose from that delegates were spoilt for choice. There is no doubt that the format of ESVOT Congress encourages lively debate and cutting edge discussion - the only drawback was that some sessions were too popular for the size of the rooms - a good problem to have and a healthy sign of the vibrancy of the society.

The social events were extra special this year. On the Friday night, many visited the Seehaus for one final time, and on the Saturday we all celebrated together at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof for a Bavarian party. Aldo Vezzoni delivered a wonderful and humorous "auf wiedersehen" to Munich before guests were "treated" to a traditional Bavarian dance by the ESVOT Board (editors note: I'm not sure it classified as "dancing"?).

The "buzz" and feel of ESVOT Congress was special this year. It all bodes well for our next major meeting, the 3^rd World Veterinary Orthopaedic Congress to be held in Bologna, Italy in September 15-18 2010. We hope to see colleagues from all over the world there for a really special event - put it in your diary now and see you there!

John Innes, ESVOT Secretary

Munich, September 11^th 2008

OPENING CEREMONY OF THE 14th ESVOT CONGRESS

Dear Professor Braun,

Dear Professor Matis,

Dear ladies and gentlemen

I am very honoured and proud to address you as President of the European Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology this evening in the Koenigsaal of the historic hotel Bayerischer Hof here in Munich and open the 14th ESVOT Congress.

Before going on, I want to remember a great pioneer in veterinary Orhopaedics and Traumatology. Dr. Wade Brinker passed away on August 7, 2008. Dr. Brinker was the first President of the Veterinary Orthopedic Society among his other numerous and critical contributions to veterinary surgery. He was an amazing individual who maintained active interest and participation in practice, teaching, and research well into his 90s. All of us are forever indebted to this wonderful man, and we want to honour his life and his legacy by remembering him in the opening ceremony of this ESVOT Congress.

I have been involved with the Society since 1996 when Dieter Prieur asked me to take his position as Secretary, when the Congress was held for the first time in Munich. I had the pleasure and honour to sit on the Board that year together with Saki Paatsama, Past President, Jean-Francois Bardet, President, Uli Matis vice-President and Herman Hazewinkel Treasurer.

Since 1996 I have been so deeply involved in the Society that it has became really part of my life and I am proud to have served during its successful growth in all these years. In the last 12 years we have organized 7 Congresses here in Munich and 12 workshops sessions, linking the development of our Society to this prestigious University. ESVOT delegates and guests from all over the world have been happy over these years to sit on the school desks of the Ludwig-Maximilian Veterinary School. We all have great memories of sharing the feeling of being back at school for our high level continuing education in veterinary orthopaedics and traumatology. We also all have great memories of the friendly bavarian atmosphere of the social events here in Munich. The ESVOT Congress over those years became an attractive event for all our Colleagues interested in Orthopaedics and understanding the English language, because it has been recognized as a global meeting merging so many experiences from all over the world and providing the opportunity to listen to different opinions and experiences. A unique feature of the ESVOT Congress has been the lowest ratio ever seen between the number of participants and the number of speakers, with one speaker to every 4 to 5 attendees, which is usually impossible to achieve due to financial constraints, but in ESVOT it has worked because of the generosity of the hosting Veterinary School and of our sponsors, and the voluntary support of our speakers. It's a tradition of ESVOT not to pay an honorarium to its speakers, but to provide them the best hospitality we can and to let them feel proud to be involved in such a valuable international scientific contest. At this point I am really sad to announce that this Congress is the last one of this series of successful Munich Congresses, but we have to face the challenge of a tremendous increase of attendance which makes the facilities of the School no longer suitable; it's a real challenge, but we will be pleased to involve different European Countries and to bring our Congress close to other Veterinary Schools in Europe. I am sure that the experience we gained here in Munich will lighten the way for the future experience and I would ask you to acknowledge Professor Uli Matis and the Dean of the Veterinary School, Professor Joachim Braun with a very warm applause.

This year's ESVOT Congress promises to be a fitting farewell celebration to Munich and has been designed to leave a great memory of it; we have 480 participants from 35 Countries, including 76 invited speakers and 23 free communication speakers. Its outstanding program has been chaired by John Innes for the SA part and by Olivier Lepage for the LA one, selecting the most recent and interesting topics, with four State of the Art Lectures with leading speakers, Nathan Sutter from Cornell, Christine Théoret from Montreal, Rich Evans from Illinois and Peter Clegg from Liverpool, 18 Sessions and 6 pre-congress Courses and Seminars including specialty surgical techniques, like elbow, knee and hip replacement with Randy Acker, William Liska and Randy Boudrieau, bone anchors with Don Hulse, Jimi Cook and Rico Vannini, one Seminar on Arthroscopy organized by our active working group leaded by Bernadette van Ryssen and one Advanced Seminar on TPLO held by Scott Lozier and Mike Kowaleski. The Paatsama lecture will be given by an old friend of ESVOT and outstanding veterinarian from Ohio, Bill DeHoff, this evening, and as part of the social program, Saturday night, we will have a big party here at the Bayerischer Hof in Bavarian style.

In 2012 the 15th ESVOT Congress will be held in conjunction with the 3rd World Veterinary Orthopaedic Congress and will be held in Bologna, Italy, the 15th-18th September. The WVOC is held every four years, alternating between Europe and the Unites States; in 2002 ESVOT, under the leadership of Herman Hazewinkel, became one of the two founding fathers of the new World Veterinary Orthopaedic Congress, together with VOS. Collaboration with our VOS colleagues has increased a lot in recent years and I am happy to welcome here his President Jimi Cook. The World Congress, organized as a joint venture between ESVOT and VOS, was the first step for a world wide veterinary orthopaedic network. It was strongly suggested by Geoff Sumner-Smith, founder and former editor of VCOT, our official journal. Since Geoff left his commitment recently, I want to acknowledge him for the great impulse he did to our specialty and I welcome here Ken Johnson, his successor as VCOT editor.

Bologna hosts the oldest and biggest Veterinary School in Italy were we have been welcomed to hold our Pre-Congress workshops; the Congress Centre in the city will give us the facilities for a great Congress with multiple sessions while the beautiful old town will let everybody enjoy its atmosphere and the famous best Italian food. The commitment to coordinate the organization of such an important event for the veterinary orthopaedic community has put in good hands since John Houlton will take care of it.

Since the aim of ESVOT is to encourage the advancement and dissemination of knowledge in veterinary orthopaedics and traumatology, last year, with the support of the Board, I wanted to create a new web site, Ortho Vet Super Site, dedicated to the exchange of scientific knowledge and rapid dissemination of information. Access to publications as well details of all the activities organized by ESVOT and other organizations in the world are readily and easily available for all ESVOT members and registered users, who receive a monthly news-letter every time the site is updated. Due to the progressive diffusion of internet everywhere, we intend to attract veterinarians interested in orthopaedics from all over the world, both in small animal and large animal fields. Providing the abstracts of all the papers in veterinary orthopaedics published in all the English language journals every month we want to provide our members an easy and quick continuing education tool. Moreover we intend to promote the knowledge and the exchanges between the different national veterinary orthopaedic organizations in Europe and world wide. Recently VOS joined the initiative giving their support in the web-site editing and extending the free access to their members too. OrthoVetSuperSite has great potential for further initiatives and services which will be realized with the financial support provided by the several companies who have already taken the opportunity to advertise their products. I strongly believe in the new communication tools and this initiative is the legacy I would like to leave ESVOT as my service to the Society.

I am sure that my successors in ESVOT will continue in the successful management of the Society and in maintaining the mission statement which has resulted in becoming one of the most efficient and appreciated scientific societies in the veterinary profession.

I want to thank my wife Franca not only for letting me spend so much time for the Society, but also for her enthusiastic participation. Many thanks to all the Board members, to our Secretariat CSM and to all the ESVOT members for their invaluable support in the past 2 years. It has been a real pleasure serving as your President.

Aldo Vezzoni