Dear EHS Members, Firstly, as the year draws to an end, I want to wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. As you know, 2016 will be the year of the EHS 12th Congress in Munich, and the call for abstracts has gone out! The programme will be confirmed in January and will be up on the Congress website for you to check. Also in 2016, we are very happy to present the first ever EHS Fellowship, as you will see below. Tell your young colleagues to apply! For now though, we are all taking some well-deserved time off to recharge our batteries and spend time with friends and family to prepare for an busy, exciting New Year ahead.
All the very best,
Your EHS President, Prof Werner E. Siebert
We would like to congratulate our member Dr Jean Alain Epinette, as he steps up to become our new Nat Rep for France. Sincere thanks go to his predecessor, Dr Jacques Tabutin, a loyal and long-term member of EHS, for holding this role for so long. Welcome also to six new EHS members: Dr Ozden from Turkey, Dr Marushchak, Dr Mezentsev and Dr Tankut from Ukraine, Dr Burian from Czech Republic and Dr Cusmà Guatteri from Italy. I hope you will take note of the Fellowship we are launching in 2016 (see below) and will send this newsletter to any young colleagues you deem fit to apply.
Happy New Year to you all.
Assoc Prof Eleftherios Tsiridis, EHS Secretary General
NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE, FINLAND
Dr Ville Remes Pihlajalinna Group Helsinki
In Finland,approximately 8000 primary THAs and 1600 revision THAs are performed annually – the number and incidence of primary THAs have increased steadily. The majority of the implants during the last decade have been cementless. However, the number of the cemented implants has increased during the last two years. Metal-on-metal (MoM) bearings were common between 2004–2010. This has increased the number of hip revisions due to ARMeD reactions during the last five years. National guidelines and programmes have been adopted for follow-up of the MoM implants.
Finland has the second oldest hip arthroplasty register in the world. Data collection was totally renovated in 2014. Data is collected electronically and implants are tracked based on REF-and LOT-codes. Beta-version of the new internet pages (www.thl.fi/far) were launched at the end of last month. Data is reported in a dynamic way i.e. the viewer can modify tables and graphs. In addition, we are currently reporting more detailed information on hip surgeries.
The Finnish arthroplastysociety has published national guidelines for performing primary THAs. Second version of the guidelines was published in 2015 (www.suomenartroplastiayhdistys.fi/files/hyva_hoito_lonkan_ja_pol ven_tekonivelkirurgiassa_2015.pdf).
About 200-300 hip arthroscopies are performed annually mainlyin universityand private hospitals. Onlya few hip osteotomies are performed annuallyin university hospitals.
Health care is tax-funded in Finland and currentlyservices are mainly publicly produced and organized. The Government is planning to reform health care structures in Finland during the next few years. Currently 317 different municipalities are responsible for organizing social and health care services. In the future, there will be 15 provinces,which are responsible for organizing services. Hospitals performing hip surgeries are most likely decreasing. In addition,as a part of the reform private companies will most likely be accepted as providers in publiclyfunded health care.
The EHS EduCom is pleased to launch the EHS Visiting Fellowship
Applicants are invited to apply now!
The EHS Visiting Fellowship will consist of 2 weeks per centre in 2 top European orthopaedic centres in Spring, 2016. Applicants can be non-members and should be European orthopaedic specialists with academic potential and an interest in high level knowledge of hip surgery.
The aim for the Fellow is to make contacts and receive comprehensive training in all aspects of hip surgery. 2 Fellows will be selected by the ExCom and will automatically become EHS members (free for a year). The EHS will cover the cost of transport and accommodation.
Candidates must meet these requirements:
- Age under 40 years
- Major interest in orthopaedic hip surgery
- Scientific Works (publications, research reports on hip surgery)
- Satisfactory knowledge of English
- Completed orthopaedic training with extra experience in hip surgery
- Resident of an EHS member country
To apply, candidates should email the following documents to the EHS Secretary General’s PA, Samantha Stokes at samstokesehs@gmail.com:-
- Application letter
- CV in English including:-
- date of birth
- description of current position and clinical responsibilities
- list of publications and presentations at scientific meetings
- 2 letters of recommendation
After completing the Fellowship, a short written report should be sent to EHS and a short oral report should be given at the EHS Congress.
The deadline for applications is end of February 2016. Good luck!