Meetings

I have been away from this blog for too long.  I have been traveling a bit and want to share some information about the meetings I have attended.  I hope and expect to get back to regular blogging this week!

POSNA Annual Meeting 2016

POSNA is the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America.  This organization supports surgeons and other providers who provide care for children with orthopedic challenges, whether that be issues from birth, trauma, infection, etc.

Their website shares:

The Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) is a not-for-profit professional organization of over 1200 surgeons, physicians, and allied health members passionately dedicated to advancing musculoskeletal care for children and adolescents through education, research, quality, safety and value initiatives, advocacy, and global outreach to children in underserved areas.

Our Mission: To improve the care of children with musculoskeletal disorders through education, research, and advocacy.

I am a member of POSNA and find it to be an incredibly collegial and educational organization with great people dedicated to the children for whom they provide care.  The hand and upper extremity offerings (lectures, discussions, networking) are growing as well.  I have participated the last 3 years and this year, along with my co- author Lindley Wall-Stivers, shared our work on outcomes with birth anomalies of the pediatric upper extremity.  

My next stop was the PHSG meeting in Toronto, Canada.  PHSG- Pediatric Hand Study Group- is a group of surgeons and therapists with a special interest in caring for kids with birth differences of the upper extremity.  The group has been around since 1998, became more formalized in 2002, and has grown year by year.  While focused on true birth differences of the upper extremity, the group also has notable expertise in birth brachial plexus palsy and cerebral palsy.  Much of the published literature in all of these areas comes from the members of this group!

Our meeting was hosted by Toronto Sick Kids Hospital, a famous institution providing outstanding care for kids for many years.  What an amazing event with great lectures, discussion, and collegiality. Definitely one of my favorite meetings of the year!

Sick Kids Hospital, site of 2016 PHSG meeting

Dr Wall- Stivers and I shared our work in two areas.  First, we discussed the St Louis experience with the humerus external rotation osteotomy for arthrogryposis.  I have blogged about this previously as can be seen HERE and HERE..  We believe this operation both improves function and appearance for kids.  

And second, we shared our experience with Hyalomatrix for syndactyly reconstruction.  Again, I have written about our experience HERE.  While it is still early in our use of this skin graft substitute, we are excited about its potential.  There was a great deal of interest in the audience about both of these surgical procedures.

Finally, I was privileged to share with the group the winner of the 2016 Manske Award (for a scientific publication in 2015):

Ann E Van Heest, Anita Bagley, Fred Molitor, and Michelle A. James.  Tendon Transfer Surgery in Upper- Extremity Cerebral Palsy Is More Effective Than Botulinum Toxin Injections or Regular, Ongoing Therapy.  J Bone Joint Surgery, 2015; 97: 529- 36.

This manuscript reports the one year outcomes of children upper extremity cerebral palsy treated with tendon transfer surgery, botulinum toxin injection, or continuing therapy.   The surgical group showed significantly greater improvement in the Shriners Hospital Upper Extremity Evaluation (SHUEE), with notably improved wrist extension and supination. 

Charles A. Goldfarb, MD

My Bio at Washington University
congenitalhand@wudosis.wustl.edu