BLOG: Energy was flowing through the halls

Wednesday marked another exciting day at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting. With the meeting completely underway, the hallways between the Palazzo, Venetian and Venetian/Sands Expo and Convention Center have been packed with members of the orthopedic community at essentially all hours.

I spent much of the morning catching up with friends and mentors from multiple programs throughout the United States. It was refreshing to be able to talk about all of the exciting new research and development being discussed at this years’ meeting. For me, perhaps the one of the best features of attending the meeting each year is the opportunity to have in-person, face-to-face conversations with colleagues and mentors from different programs around the country and world. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting fosters an environment perfect for bringing together more than 20,000 individuals, all with a common interest in orthopedic surgery but at different stages in their careers. The excitement, passion and energy were definitely flowing through the halls today.

With so many different things to do and see, it became decision time with regard to how to best spend our days. Several of my colleagues went to instructional course lectures while others went to podium presentations. Others chose to enjoy the pool – which I think is certainly a wonderful option, especially as I think of the snow back in Chicago. I spent the earlier part of the day in the Orthopedic Video Theater as I had a presentation on “Exposure of the glenohumeral joint for total shoulder arthroplasty” followed by participating in an AAOS Focus Group aimed at gauging resident interest and participation within the academy.

Rachel M. Frank

One of my co-residents at Rush, Peter Chalmers, MD, also attended the focus group and it was interesting to engage with residents from a variety of programs around the United States and hear their thoughts about their experiences. Peter had some insightful comments about what he looks for during his time at the AAOS Annual Meeting and I resonated with some of his thoughts, including the value of the meeting with respect to career development, networking and expanding on current and future research endeavors. Overall, I am glad the AAOS is taking an interest in what residents look for. Stay tuned for more to come on resident involvement within AAOS tomorrow after the inaugural AAOS Resident Assembly meeting.

I spent the afternoon session today at the Sports Medicine/Arthroscopy IV Paper session, focused on hip arthroscopy. The speakers were simply outstanding and the room was full of leaders within the field, both at the podium and in the audience asking insightful questions. Wonderfully moderated by John D. Kelly IV, MD, and Eric Pifel, MD, the papers in this session varied from clinical topics, such as outcomes following isolated arthroscopic capsular plication (no associated bony procedures) for patients with atraumatic micro-instability (presented by Marc Safran, MD), to cadaveric studies, including a study analyzing femoral head perfusion during hip arthroscopic femoral osteochondroplasty (presented by Danyal Nawabi, MD).

One paper I found especially interesting was presented by Chad Mather, MD, entitled “Early hip arthroscopy vs. nonoperative treatment and delayed surgery for symptomatic FAI of the hip.” In this analysis, Mather and colleagues evaluated the value of initial arthroscopic treatment compared to nonoperative treatment with optional delayed hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) using a Markov decision model. The authors not only found that initial arthroscopic treatment for FAI provides patient benefits at a cost to the payer that is acceptable, but further, found blanket coverage policies by payers are perhaps inefficient.

Rachel M. Frank, MD, is a fourth-year resident at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Disclosure: Frank reports no relevant financial disclosures.