AO world-leading symposia in the spotlight at DKOU 2019
Matej Kastelec, AO Trauma, Difficult elbow fractures - challenges and dilemmas, at DKOU 2019
The AO is proud of its regular participation in DKOU, one of the world's largest events in orthopedics. This year the AO offered a record number of symposiums and seminars looking at key current issues in trauma and reconstructive surgery.
This year's event shone a light on the difficult, but vital, issue of the importance of values in an era of economic driven medicine. "Knowledge needs values, and we have to focus more on the problems of our patients," said DKOU 2019 President Professor Paul Alfred Grützner (AO Trauma).
This was a sentiment echoed by Carsten Perka, DKOU 2019 President, Chair of the AO Recon Education Forum and Member of the Steering Board of AO Recon. "The patient is not visible in a lot of concepts any more so it is very important for us to bring the best practices to our patients, and that's why values are so important," Carsten Perka told DKOU TV.
"With Stephan's death, the AO lost its scientific backbone and founder. The AO community lost an inspiring teacher and mentor, and many, including myself, a warm personal friend. We will all miss him."
Chris van der Werken, AO Past President (2006-2008)
DKOU 2019 participants and delegates stopped at the AO booth (hall 2.2, booth 20) to explore the AO Recon Skills Lab, where one station, on the alignment of the tibial cut, was showcased by Philipp von Roth.
The AO booth also offered guests to DKOU 2019 the chance to understand more about the AO Fracture Monitor, an implantable biofeedback sensor device that measures how a fracture is healing and patient activity, and feeds this data back to the patient's doctor.
The AO is known for having transformed patient care and outcomes, and it builds on this legacy every day–as the leading innovator in its field, innovation at the AO covers the full cycle of development, and includes basic research, product development, and clinical validation.
On Thursday, October 24, the AO Development Incubator held a special session titled "Let us help bring your idea into patient care," during which the challenges and opportunities of developing treatment innovations that respond to emerging clinical needs, in a complex regulatory environment, were considered from the perspectives of surgeons, patients, and investors.
