SORBCOT grew from small circle of friends to a key Belgian orthopaedic organization

Subspecialty committees of SORBCOT foster lively idea exchanges, hold meetings.

Issue: September 2016

Albin C. Lambotte, MD, who practiced medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, founded the Belgian Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology or SORBCOT in 1921 and was the chair of the organization’s first meeting, which was held 19 November 1921.

Initially only a few of Lambotte’s friends were members of SORBCOT, and they were the only physicians to attend its early meetings, according information at the Belgian Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology website.

However, in the interceding 95 years, SORBCOT, which represents the French-speaking orthopaedists in Belgium, had more than 65 other presidents lead the society, some of whom are internationally well-known. The organization has also grown substantially in size and scope.

Alain Hébrant, MD, of Libramont, Belgium, who is the president of SORBCOT, told Orthopaedics Today Europe, “We are proud of our illustrious predecessors and masters. The founders of the Belgian school of traumatology and orthopaedics were inventive, curious and open minded. We are always impressed when we speak about Lambotte, A. Danis, P. Lacroix, Paul Maquet.”

The society’s main mission is to enhance the quality of orthopaedic surgery and traumatology in Belgium, according to Hébrant. Much of that mission is realized through the education that takes place at conventions and meetings that SORBCOT organizes, as well as through its journal, Acta Orthopaedica Belgica, he said.

Collaboration, cooperation is essential

SORBCOT holds national orthopaedic meetings in conjunction with the Belgian Association of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (BVOT), which represents the Flemish-speaking orthopaedic surgeons in Belgium. More than 600 members of SORBCOT and BVOT usually attend the combined national meetings, along with more than 60 international members of the organizations.

“SORBCOT works in close collaboration with BVOT,” Hébrant, who began his term as president in January 2016, told Orthopaedics Today Europe.

The collaboration between the two orthopaedic societies in Belgium is steadily increasing, according to Hébrant. One reason he expects further progress in that area is because SORBCOT and BVOT need a united front in dealing with the Belgian health authorities.

“This union spirit is growing step-by-step,” Hébrant said.

Hébrant also expects closer collaboration will occur between the SORBCOT and BVOT because both organizations have already cooperated with each other to unite their orthopaedic residents. That effort will come to fruition on 22 October in Brussels when orthopaedic residents from the French and Flemish parts of Belgium meet.

Active specialty committees

SORBCOT has four specialized committees or commissions that are focused on the knee, hip, shoulder and spine.

“The different special commissions of SORBCOT allow surgeons to meet and to exchange ideas about complex clinical cases,” Hébrant said. “These commissions organize also specific meetings and conventions and actively participate in the program of the national annual convention.”

An example of this is the 2016 Belgica Orthopaedica course, “The Forefoot,” that the foot and ankle society has organized. The course will be held Saturday 26 November in central Brussels. The Belgian Foot and Ankle Society and the Belgian Association of Paediatric Orthopaedic collaborated to develop the program for the meeting, which includes a national and international faculty.

There are other examples of the efforts put in by the specialty orthopaedic groups in Belgium, Hébrant noted.

Outside of Belgium, SORBCOT collaborates with the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. SORBCOT leaders and members also regularly interface with the worldwide orthopaedic community as traveling fellows or congress participants, according to Hébrant.

Works with BVOT

In 2017, the joint Belgian national orthopaedic congress called Orthopaedica Belgica Convention, which is organized and attended by SORBCOT and BVOT members, is scheduled to be held 27 to 28 April in Brussels.

For the meeting, “We chose didactic topics for daily practice. We are pleased to have well-known speakers and worldwide key opinion leaders” for the faculty, Hébrant said.

The topics selected for the meeting are difficult total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and TKA revisions, as well as traumatology of the hip, tibia and upper limb. The trauma portion of the program will also cover fast-track treatment of neck of femur fractures. – by Susan M. Rapp

References:
www.sorbcot.be
The Forefoot program can be found at: www.ob2016.org/Program

For more information:
Alain Hébrant, MD, can be reached at Centre Hospitalier de l’Ardenne, Avenue de Houffalize, 35 – B-6800 Libramont, Belgium; email: alain.hebrant@vivalia.be.

Disclosure: Hébrant reports no relevant financial disclosures.