Inspired by the American Knee Society, nine European orthopaedic surgeons created the European Knee Society (EKS) in 2014 with the goal of uniting key opinion leaders who specialize in taking care of patients with knee arthritis. The group’s mission is to enhance knowledge about knee arthroplasty, and to promote education at the highest levels. To accomplish this, the EKS organizes both open and closed meetings to discuss and share the latest research performed by its members. The Proceedings in this month’s Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research® includes selected papers from the 2017-2018 meetings.
Key remaining questions in knee arthroplasty include how to align the knee properly in all three planes and especially in the coronal plane, avoid infection, obtain both mobility and stability, and achieve durable component fixation. Pain after knee arthroplasty and enhanced recovery protocols remain points of discussion. Some of these topics seem straightforward, but are remarkably complicated; for example, while all knee surgeons agree on the importance of alignment, considerable disagreement remains about what the best approaches are to achieve this, what the right alignment targets should be (for example, kinematic versus mechanical axis alignment), and even whether these targets should differ from patient to patient. Controversies persist likewise in terms of implant selection (when should we use unicondylar knee arthroplasty, and what should be considered strict contra-indications?), infection, aseptic loosening (what is it really?), patient safety, best use of outcomes tools so as not to overburden patients with an inordinate number of repetitive questions, and so many other key themes. I hope and believe that the work of EKS members will help guide surgeons to the best answers to these and other important questions.
While I would not want to engage in broad generalizations, my observation is that EKS members have a great enthusiasm for technology and innovation. Our meetings—and the Proceedings in CORR® that arise from them—get members and readers alike to contemplate the ways to use new approaches in ways that can improve results while remaining responsible stewards of increasingly scarce healthcare resources. Refining the ways that surgeons interact with other industries to create solutions for our patients is a theme I hope will become more and more common in the EKS Proceedings in CORR in years to come.
I am both excited by and proud of the work my EKS colleagues have shared in this month’s CORR, and I believe other readers will enjoy these papers as much as I have.
Emmanuel Thienpont MD, MBA, PhD
Footnotes
The author (ET) certifies that he, or a member of his immediate family, has received personal fees, during the study period, in an amount of USD 10,000 to USD 100,000 from Zimmer Biomet (Warsaw, Indiana, USA); has received personal fees in an amount of less than USD 10,000 from Lima (San Daniele, Italy); has received personal fees an amount of USD 10,000 to USD 100,000 from Medacta (Lugano, Switzerland); and has received royalties on a patent from Zimmer Biomet (Warsaw, Indiana, USA).
All ICMJE Conflict of Interest Forms for authors and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research® editors and board members are on file with the publication and can be viewed on request.
The opinions expressed are those of the writers, and do not reflect the opinion or policy of CORR® or The Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons®.