Together in Stockholm
From 3rd to 5th September 2026, Stockholm hosted a landmark event in hip surgery: the first-ever Combined Meeting of The Hip Society with the European Hip Society (EHS) and the Swedish Arthroplasty Association (SAA). Held at the Sheraton Stockholm, the meeting brought together three of the field’s leading organisations under one roof — an ambitious format that, by every measure, proved a resounding success.
The scientific programme was outstanding. Across three intensive days, delegates worked through more than one hundred podium presentations, opened jointly by the two presidents, Mathias Bostrom (The Hip Society) and Fares Haddad (European Hip Society). The rapid-fire format — five-minute presentations grouped into tightly moderated sessions with dedicated discussion — kept the energy high and the debate sharp. Topics spanned the full breadth of contemporary hip practice ranging from indications and patient-reported outcomes, hip preservation, technology and robotics in primary THA, bearings and instability, and hip fractures to prosthetic joint infection and revision THA. The international faculty gave many familiar questions a refreshingly comparative perspective.
What made the meeting special, however, was the way the three societies’ cultures blended. Sharing a podium rather than merely attending in parallel produced a level of cross-pollination that single-society meetings rarely achieve, and the Swedish Arthroplasty Register featured prominently throughout, a fitting nod to our hosts. Another highlight was the Presidential Guest Lecture, delivered by a speaker from the Nobel Prize Museum, a welcome reminder of the city’s remarkable scientific heritage.
The social programme matched the science. The Thursday dinner at the Grand Hôtel — an EHS event, kindly sponsored by Sylke — and the Friday evening at the Vasa Museum, dining beside the extraordinary 17th-century warship, were both memorable occasions that gave delegates ample time to build the friendships and collaborations that are, in the end, the real currency of these meetings.
On a personal note, the meeting left just the right amount of room to enjoy Stockholm itself. On the Friday afternoon I joined the guided walking tour with a mixture of American and European colleagues of Gamla Stan, the Old Town, winding through its medieval lanes and past the Royal Palace — a delightful interlude and a reminder that the best meetings feed the mind beyond the lecture hall. The programme (and weather) was also generous enough with some spare time to lace up my running shoes for a couple of runs along the Djurgården waterfront. Another fine way to discover Stockholm.
The organisers deserve warm congratulations for a meeting that was ambitious in conception and flawless in execution. If this first Combined Meeting is a sign of things to come, the collaboration between our societies has a bright future indeed.
Geert Meermans MD,
EHS EduCom Member
Belgium
