Dr. Masaki Watanabe, one of the Japanese orthopedic surgeons, is known as the “father of modern and interventional arthroscopy” after developing sophisticated endoscopic instruments using electronics and optics, which became popular in Japan in the post–World War II era (1). Before him, Professor Kenji Takagi in Tokyo has traditionally been credited with performing the first arthroscopic examination of a knee joint, in 1919. He used a 7.3 mm cystoscope for his first knee arthroscopies (2). In 1969, Dr. Richard O’Connor visited Dr. Watanabe after which he popularized knee arthroscopy in the United States in 1960-70s (3).
The history of arthroscopic surgery in Iran goes back to early 1970s, when Dr. Heshmat Shahriaree was practicing at Shafa Yahyaiean Hospital in Tehran (4, 5). In those years, he was performing his first cases of knee arthroscopy in Tehran using very simple instruments. After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he left the country and came back to the United States when he published the O’Connor’s Textbook of Arthroscopic Surgery in 1984 (6).
During the eight years of the imposed Iraq-Iran war (1980-1988), we were not facilitated to develop and popularize arthroscopic surgeries due to the lack of access to both the knowledge and the devices. In 1990s, with a new generation of Iranian orthopedic surgeons trained in arthroscopy and sport medicine returning from Europe and North America, arthroscopic surgeries became popular again. In 1992, Iranian Society of Knee Surgery, Arthroscopy and Sports Traumatology (ISKAST) was founded and started to grow in the number of the members to become a very large family of orthopedic surgeons, which further subdivided to knee, shoulder, elbow, ankle, and hip arthroscopy.
At the moment, ISKAST is not only the leading society for the arthroscopic surgeons throughout the country, but is also a scientific reference in the Middle East region. ISKAST has been the partner society of the International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine (ISAKOS), Asia-Pacific Knee, Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine Society (APKASS), Turkish Society on knee surgery and Sports Traumatology (TUSYAD), and Pan Arab Orthopedic Association.
We have tried to keep up with the global trend and to meet the professional and social demands. We have established many fellowship training programs related to ISKAST`s mission in our major universities as well as the private hospitals. We held the 1st International Biennial Congress of Iranian Society of Knee Surgery, Arthroscopy, and Sports Traumatology in January 2010 in Kish Island. The second and third international ISKAST were also held in Kish Island in February 2012 and February 2014, respectively, with a great team of international speakers. We had our 4th meeting in Tehran in 2016 with impressive contribution of prestigious international faculties and speakers.
The 5th international ISKAST meeting is going to be held on February 14-17th, 2018, with participation of 35 outstanding international faculties. I’m sure this meeting would be one of the most successful ones in the region. All who are active and interested to the field of arthroscopy are most welcome to attend the meeting in the beautiful Kish Island.
References
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