The first congress of ESTES – a historic landmark for European Trauma & Emergency Surgery

The first congress of ESTES has just adjourned after four days very successful. The local organizers can be congratulated, and for us as Presidents of the Interim Board, an important mission is fulfilled – a mission that has been a great challenge, but also a very stimulating task, much because of the positive and constructive support from so many people working together towards the same goal.

When the idea to merge ETS and EATES into one society came up four years ago, very few believed that this process could be finalized in such a short period of time. To merge two such large societies is a complicated mission; In addition to administrative and legal considerations, two Boards with many strong leaders should suddenly become one, which must be a process of giving and taking. I think that we can conclude that this process has in a very constructive atmosphere where the goal, one strong society, always has been given the highest priority, before personal interest and prestige. The discussions have been totally open and all feelings and opinions brought up to the surface, which we think has contributed to the success of this process and in fact generated a warm friendship between the members of the two merging boards. The terms „former ETS” and „former EATES” are laid to rest with this congress, and from now on we are one society and one board.

The development of the new society has so far been very positive. Since the recruitment of individual members started In January 2008, we have now 377 new members. Five new national societies have applied and been approved for institutional membership, which gives a total number of 6075 members from 52 countries, and more societies are presently applying for such membership. This is indeed a major society with great potential to contribute to the development of trauma and emergency surgery in Europe.

Five sections has now been established within the society: The Section for Education and Training and the Section for Disaster & Military Surgery were already founded in Graz in 2007 and during the Budapest congress three more sections were created: Visceral Trauma, Skeletal Trauma and Emergency Surgery. These sections will not only contribute to the program at the annual congresses, but also promote their different fields in organizing courses and running projects between the congresses. A working group has been appointed by the board to design common rules for organization of the sections and the relationship between them and the mother society.

The future annual congresses will be in Antalya (Turkey) 2009, Brussels (Belgium) 2010, Milan (Italy) 2011 and Basel (Switzerland) 2012. A „Congress Site Committee” will be appointed by the executive board to design the rules for application to organize congresses in the future.

Successful congresses are of course a key-stone for the success of the Society, and the success of the first congress of ESTES was therefore very important. The decision to locate this congress in Budapest was already made before the merger was approved, and this meant a great responsibility for the local organizers who did not have an easy task. Support was necessary, and with great efforts by from Vilmos Vécsei in Vienna, initially promoting Budapest as congress venue, support from the Board of ESTES and also from Mondial as an excellent congress organizer, we can conclude that this congress was a major achievement. Peter Fröhlich, who had to take over as a Congress President at a very late stage, did an excellent job together with his staff to choose good congress facilities, with excellent local organization and a social program of a very high class.

The congress attracted 1 302 delegates from 59 countries throughout the world.
In all, 590 abstracts were submitted,for 272 were accepted for oral and 235 for poster presentation; overall quality of the presentations was high. Nine speakers were invited from abroad and contributed significantly to the high standard and educational value of the program. Seven key-note lectures were presented covering different fields of trauma- and emergency surgery. Among the highlights of the congress were the interactive mentometer sessions, one on „Trauma to the trunk” led by Don Trunkey (USA) and the other one on „Abdominal injuries” led by Korhan Taviloglu (Turkey).

At the opening ceremony, three Honorary Members were named: Donald Trunkey (USA), Vilmos Vécsei (Austria) and Alastair Wilson (UK).

ESTES Honorary Members: a) Don Trunkey, b) Vilmos Vécsei, and c) Alastair Wilson
At the General Assembly, a new executive board was appointed as proposed by the interim board:

The position of Vice President was a proposal from the board at the board meeting in Frankfurt, immediately after the registration of the society in Brussels. The reason for this proposal was that it became apparent that such a large society, covering so many different fields, required an extension of the „permanent core” in the executive board in addition to the position of Secretary General. That required an amendment of the bylaws approved by a quorum of two-thirds of our members. Even if the General Assembly were well attended and voted for this unanimously, such an amendment according to Belgian law would require a new formal General Assembly majority vote (no minimal number of attendees required). The new executive board will call for such an additional General Assembly to confirm the appointment of the Vice President.

At the closing ceremony, several well deserved awards were given for the best oral presentations and posters, in very hard competition because of the quality. The prize for best oral presentation was given to L. Török, P. Hartman, G. Erös, D. Gurabi and A. Szabo (Hungary) for the presentation „Examination of the microcirculatory consequences of carrageenan-induced subacute arthritis in rats” and for best poster to Y. S. Abdul Rahman, A. Sami, S. Alden and K. Maull (Quatar) for the poster „Prospective study of validity of neurologic signs in predicting positive cranial computed tomography following minor head trauma”.

The new President of ESTES concluded by expressing the gratitude of the Society and of the delegates for an excellent congress, which will be of significant importance for the future of our society, and before the congress adjourned, the incoming Congress President Koran Taviloglu gave us a glimpse of the future by presenting the congress venue in Antalya, Turkey, which certainly appears promising.

The past presidents a) Professor Sten Lennquist and b) Professor Otmar Trentz at their presidental addresses.
For us as Presidents of the interim board, it has been a great honor and also a great pleasure to serve the Society during this important, exciting and historical period of time. We wish the new President good luck in continuing the work and look forward to seeing many of our members in Antalya next year!

Awards
9th European Congress of Trauma & Emergency Surgery, Budapest, May 24-27, 2008

ESTES 2007 Award
Function Versus Position: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Interfocal Kirschner Wiring of Unstable Distal Radial Fractures
M. Snow, M. Kelly, M. Jeyam, N. Fahmy (UK)

Günther Schlag Award
Muscle regeneration after “second hit” traumatic injury
Denes Balazs Horvathy (Hungary)

Best Poster Award I
Prospective study of validity of neurologic signs in predicting positive cranial computed tomography following minor head trauma – a preliminary report
Y. S. Abdul Rahman, A. Sami, S. Alden, K. Maull (Qatar)

Best Poster Award II
The clinical relevance of S – 100B and NSE in spinal cord injury
H. Wolf, K. Sarahrudi, G. Pajenda, P. Platzer, V. Vécsei (Austria)

Best Poster Award III
C-Clamp and pelvic packing for control of haemorrhage in multiply injured patients with pelvic ring disruption
M. Keel, T. Lustenberger, P. Lenzlinger, O. Trentz, C. Meier (Switzerland)

Best Oral Paper Award I
Examination of the microcirculatory consequences of carrageenan-induced subacute arthritis in rats
L. Török, P. Hartmann, G. Erős, D. Gurabi, A. Szabó (Hungary)

Best Oral Paper Award II
The impact of Colony-Stimulating Factor-1 on fracture healing: an experimental study
K. Sarahrudi, M. Mousavi, V. Vécsei, S. Aharinejad (Austria)

Best Oral Paper Award III
Prospective controlled randomized trial on prevention of postoperative abdominal adhesions by codextrin 4% solution after laparotomic operation for small bowel obstruction caused by adherences (POPA study: Prevention of Postoperative Adhesions)
F. Catena, L. Ansaloni, F. Gazzotti, F. Coccolini, A. Pinna (Italy)

The European Board of Surgery Qualification (EBSQ) Examination for Trauma
The EBSQ-Trauma Certification Examinations will take place in Berlin, Germany on Thursday, October 23, 2008, 7:15 am, during the DGU Congress, which takes place from October 22-25, 2008.
The closing date for applications is October 5, 2008.
For applications, please contact: Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Oestern (hans-joerg.oestern@akh-celle.de) and Ms. Dorothea Hotopp. Phone: (+49/5141) 382420. E-mail: dorothea.hotopp@t-online.de