January 2021

Dear EHS Members & Friends, 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
(Alfred Tennyson)

Just a few words for this New Year… May it bring happiness and prosperity to each of us, and to those we love, after these desperate months of the pandemic.

Beyond our everyday lives, beyond our surgical practice, our patients, our colleagues, very best wishes from the entire EHS Board for always finding within our Scientific Society this conviviality, this joy of communicating, of sharing our knowledge… and that very soon we can once again taste the fraternity of these “face-to-face” meetings during our congresses and scientific events…

Dear friends and colleagues of our European Hip Society, thank you for being there. We need each of you… With regards to this Lille congress, we do need your enthusiastic and dynamic participation for this “reunion” congress being a fantastic moment of fraternal friendship. Our European Hip Society aims to provide the best knowledge on any hip-related topic, and we have so much to cover: any necessary update on basic surgical principles, such as new developments in periprosthetic infection, or better results for our patients’ outcomes after optimization and fast track rehab methods, or even new paradigms in personalized prosthetic procedures, not to mention impressive new technological tools, whether they are educational means via virtual reality, additive manufacturing in 3D printing, and of course new developments in robotic-assisted surgery. Also consider the new clinical evaluation principles, which are of paramount importance today, with MDR-like regulatory requirements on patient surveys, new PROMS, new trends in registries… and so much more.

Well, we are not going to fall asleep in 2021, with all these subjects to prepare and discuss, each more important than the other, that we will have so much pleasure to put on the table during our 14th EHS congress in Lille next 9-10th September 2021!

As said before, let’s end very quickly this annus horribilis, and raise our glasses at the beginning of 2021 to celebrate this new start in a very exciting annus mirabilis!!!

Warmest regards from the EHS Board,

Jean-Alain Epinette, MD

EHS President 2018-2021

EHS Ambassador of the Month, Peteris Studers

Dear Colleagues,

It is a great opportunity and honour to be chosen as the Ambassador of the Month.

My name is Peteris Studers and I am working as an orthopaedic surgeon in the Hospital of Traumatology and Orthopaedics since 1982, which is the leading centre of musculoskeletal trauma and orthopaedic patient treatment in Latvia. I have specialised in hip and knee arthroplasty, revision surgery and periprosthetic fracture treatment.

Each year the incidence of osteoarthritis and performed arthroplasty procedures is increasing worldwide. Today, we strive to achieve even better functional and clinical results after hip arthroplasty, reduce complication rates and improve patients’ quality of life. However, it is also important to consider why patients develop severe osteoarthritis. The aetiology of “primary” osteoarthritis is known to be complex and multifactorial, with genetic, biomechanical, metabolic, and environmental factors playing an important role. Much progress has been made in research of these factors in the recent years. Therefore, by understanding the primary causes of the disease, it would be possible to take timely preventive measures to delay the progression of osteoarthritis and postpone joint replacement surgery. This is one of the main research directions of the Interdepartmental Laboratory of Traumatology and Orthopaedics at Riga Stradins University, which I lead. As well as the other fields of interest include evaluation of outcomes after joint replacement surgery, anterior hip approach and one-stage bilateral hip/ knee arthroplasty.

Exchanging knowledge and sharing experience has always played a great role in my daily practice teaching students, residents and communicating with fellow colleagues. I am very grateful to Kristaps Keggi, the pioneer of the anterior hip approach, who gave me a lot of valuable knowledge and practical advice during my arthroplasty fellowship in Waterbury Hospital, USA. And we are still collaborating with Yale University colleagues.

As a SICOT National Delegate for several years, I have met many great colleagues and like-minded people, exchanged experiences in orthopaedic surgery and integrated this knowledge into everyday practice. And I will do my very best to make a valuable contribution to the EHS.

After the first wave of COVID-19 in Latvia during spring, the situation in the summer months was stable and we were able to resume elective surgery with appropriate precautions. However, at the end of September, the second wave of infection reached Latvia. With the increase in the number of infected people each day, the volume of operations performed has also decreased significantly. Nevertheless, the latest news on the promising coronavirus vaccine provide hope for an end to this pandemic.

I wish everyone patience, good health and look forward to meeting everyone in person soon.

Best regards,

Peteris Studers, MD PhD