The Egyptian Orthopaedic Association Celebrates More than 75 Years as a Leader in Orthopaedics

The Egyptian Orthopaedic Association (EOA) is very proud to represent Egypt as the Guest Nation of the AAOS 2025 Annual Meeting. Established in 1948, the EOA has completed its 77th anniversary as the first orthopaedic association to be established in the Middle East region. Through these years, the EOA has been responsible for the establishment of a solid organization representing orthopaedic surgeons in Egypt, playing a pivotal role in maintaining professional, educational, and technical support for its members in order to ensure a top-level orthopaedic service for the Egyptian community.

Orthopaedic surgery in Egypt is much older than the date of establishment of the EOA. It started more than 4,000 years ago during ancient Egyptian civilization. In fact, the logo of the EOA has been taken from a drawing on the wall of one of the Egyptian temples in upper Egypt. This drawing represents one of the first documented orthopaedic maneuvers in history, showing a therapist doing closed reduction of shoulder dislocation for a patient. If you visit the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo, you will also find one of the first artificial prostheses that was designed to replace an amputated big toe. It was manufactured from leather to mimic the lost big toe, giving both functional and cosmetic support to the patient. Throughout the decades, Egypt has always been the leader in its region, known for its skilled physicians during Greek, Roman, and Islamic civilization.

In current times, the EOA continues to be a leader in providing state-of-the-art educational services to its membership of more than 8,000 orthopaedic surgeons who are located not only in Egypt but also throughout the Middle East and Africa. This service is provided through conferences and workshops organized by the EOA. There are two major conferences that are organized by the EOA; the first is its annual meeting, which takes place each year in December and was associated with the SICOT (The Société Internationale de Chirurgie Orthopédique et de Traumatologie) International Conference in 2023. The EOA’s second major conference is focused on deformities and takes place in August. The International Deformity Correction Conference is classified as one of the major international conferences in the field of deformity management. Besides these conferences, the EOA organizes and supports workshops and seminars all over the country each year.

The Egyptian Orthopaedic Journal is the official magazine of the EOA and has been playing a very important window for research and publications from Egypt as well as from other countries, making the magazine one of the most important scientific journals in the region with pub-med access.

Finally, The EOA takes this chance to invite you all to visit Egypt to join one of the scientific activities that are provided by the EOA. Meanwhile, you might also take the chance to enjoy the taste of history and maybe also to have a dip in the Red Sea in Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh.

Thank you all for having Egypt as the guest nation with you in this prestigious scientific event, and we hope to have good memories that stay with us for life.

Hani El-Mowafi, MD, is past president of EOA and a professor of orthopaedic surgery at Mansoura University Hospital in Mansoura, Egypt.

Ahmed Kholeif, MD, is past president of EOA and a professor of orthopaedic surgery at Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt.