03 May 2019 (Last updated: 28 May 2019 16:08)
The Society’s spring scientific meeting was held from the 23rd to the 25th of April at the Bay Campus of Swansea University in conjunction with the British Association of Hand Therapists. The meeting was jointly chaired by the BSSH President, Mr David Newington, and Ms Christy Fowler, the BAHT Chair.
The trainee’s day on Wednesday was chaired by Jeremy Rodriguez and Lisa Newington. It included two free-paper sessions and guest lectures focusing on “what they don’t tell you in the books”, the many aspects of independent practice that are not covered in our training; such as leadership, negotiation, coaching, mentorship and maintaining work-life balance. The day was well attended with 50 delegates. It concluded with a fiendishly difficult quiz compiled by Mr Zaf Naqui and won by David Izadi.
On Thursday there were symposia on regional anaesthesia in hand surgery, getting involved with overseas work, and an entertaining symposium on the role of hand therapy in elite sports. Mr Nicholas Downing chaired a debate on treatment dilemmas in thumb base arthritis, and there were guest lectures from Mr Darren Roberts on strengthening in hand therapy, and Dr Karsten Kroener (President of the Danish Hand Society) on the Viking Hand, which included a fascinating account of the history of the Vikings in Medieval Britain. Mr Robert Savage gave a superb lecture recalling the ground breaking animal work on tendon healing, done by the late Mr Phillip Matthews (BSSH member 1976 -2018), and his own work on techniques of tendon repair.
On Thursday evening the Society Dinner was held in the magnificent setting of Brangwyn Hall. We were welcomed by a male voice choir and there was after dinner entertainment from Mr David Newington and Cerys Matthews (lead singer of Catatonia) with dancing to the “Arrhythmics”. The party, for some, extended into the small-hours, and it is rumored that festivities continued at “Crazy Coyote”, a Karaoke bar in Wind Street, Swansea!
In spite of the above, the Friday morning free-paper session was well attended. A testament to the endurance of our Members. There was a meeting for the principal investigators in the DISC trial, an update on the BSSH trauma App and a practical demonstration of ultrasound imaging in the hand and wrist from Professor Rhodri Evans. Professor Joe Dias delivered the Douglas Lamb lecture on the evidence behind the evolution of distal radius fracture treatment, and Mr David Shewring chronicled the history of hand surgery in Wales. The parallel BAHT session included a review of maximizing the benefits of overseas work, an introduction to the UK Hand Registry and the role of manual muscle testing in brachial plexus injuries. The afternoon session included guest lectures on the management of hand burns, by Professor Tom Potokar & Janine Evans from Swansea, and the treatment of major hand trauma in children by Professor Neil Jones from Los Angeles. The meeting concluded with lectures on flexor tendon rehabilitation from Ms Alison Roe, wrist replacement by Dr Karsten Kroener and soft tissue interposition MCPJ arthroplasty by Mr John Oni.
The meeting was a huge success with 345 registered delegates of whom 297 attended the Society dinner. There were 38 free papers and 33 posters. We are looking forward to welcoming you all to Dublin at the end of October.
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