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EFORT Instructional Course on Anatomy: Useful flaps for orthopaedic surgeons
Paris, France; 26-28 January 2015
In clinics, major skin defects also have to be treated on a daily basis in orthopaedic and trauma surgery. Ideally, this occurs in cooperation with plastic surgeons. A special EFORT Instructional Course teaches experienced surgeons the skills they need if plastic surgeons happen to not be available.
Prof. Thierry Bégué: “Orthopaedic surgeons cannot and should not replace plastic surgeons. However, there are a number of techniques from plastic surgery of which an orthopaedic or trauma surgeon should have mastery. If a difficult case involving a skin-related problem arises, they cannot always rely on someone being there to help. So it is important to know and also be able to execute the five or ten most important flap techniques.”
In an EFORT Instructional Course in Paris in January, Prof. Bégué will teach experienced surgeons these flaps on a cadaveric specimen. An everyday example shows how crucial these techniques are: “Imagine you implant a knee endoprosthesis and are unable to close the wound because the skin is too stiff. In this case, you have to know at least enough about cutaneous and muscular flaps to care for the wound without limiting the success of the arthroplasty. You cannot always rely on someone being there to help. You can be left on your own even in planned surgeries, but this happens much more frequently in emergency interventions in traumatology,” Bégué said.
The time it takes a plastic surgeon to show up depends largely on the country and the medical center involved. In many cases orthopaedic or trauma surgeons are left to their own devices.
Prof. Bégué: “Of course, we cannot have mastery of the entire field of plastic surgery and that is not necessary either. In about 75% of such cases, there is a simple technique for solving the problem and orthopaedic surgeons can definitely learn it. Incidentally, one advantage of the upcoming course is we also discuss cases comprising the remaining 25%. In other words, we talk about the interventions that are so demanding from the perspective of plastic surgery that specialists have to be brought into it. And anyone who knows a little about plastic surgery will have an easier time with colleagues in joint meetings and surgery planning sessions.”
In the EFORT Instructional Course conducted by Prof. Bégué, all participants will have the opportunity to carry out all flap procedures covered in the syllabus on a cadaveric specimen. The target group consists of experienced surgeons from the field of orthopaedic and trauma surgery. “These colleagues conduct the overwhelming majority of these surgeries day to day. Many of them have undoubtedly often asked themselves where they might find a plastic surgeon. It is these colleagues we want to help,” Bégué said.
On the first day of the course, flap techniques in the upper extremity will be practiced; on the second day, flap techniques on the lower extremity will be practiced. On the third day, the limitations of these simple techniques and delicate cases will be discussed and then the techniques will be practiced on a cadaver.
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- More info available on: www.efort.org/ic-paris2015