By Erin Lynn Ransford

AAOS partners with OTA, SOMOS, and ORS on EWI VII

The AAOS is once again partnering with the Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA), the Society of Military Orthopaedic Surgeons (SOMOS), and the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) in a major research symposium designed to foster relationships between civilian and military surgeons and collaboration on research and treatment of extremity war and disaster injuries.

The AAOS/OTA/SOMOS/ORS Extremity War Injuries VII: A Decade at War: Evolution of Orthopaedic Combat Casualty Care (EWI VII) Research Symposium will take place Jan. 18–20, 2012, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C.

EWI VII will highlight the evolution of the understanding of the phases of trauma patient care—from acute care (medic through combat support hospital), through reconstruction and rehabilitation. A session on outcomes will examine tibial fractures, limb salvage versus amputation, functional levels of amputees, and posttraumatic stress disorder in individuals who have sustained orthopaedic injuries. The symposium will conclude by examining axioms altered by research and will investigate and evaluate the advancements and setbacks in research directions since their establishment at the inaugural EWI symposium in 2006.

Breakout sessions will aim to develop tools to train and prepare surgeons for future conflicts, highlighting the lessons learned and the importance of data collection with the ultimate goal of reprioritizing research directions.

The EWI VII symposium is cochaired by COL Romney Andersen, MD, chairman of orthopaedics at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and CAPT(R) Michael Bosse, MD, director of orthopaedic clinical research at the Carolinas Medical Center. COL James Ficke, MD, chairman, department of orthopaedic surgery and rehabilitation at Brooke Army Medical Center, serves as the chair of the EWI Project Team, which oversees the annual symposia.

For more information about the EWI symposium series and the AAOS Extremity War Injuries Project Team, visit www.aaos.org/ewi

Erin Lynn Ransford is the manager, research development, in the AAOS office of government relations. She can be reached at ransford@aaos.org