Many thanks to all who participated in the 2025 COA Annual Meeting and AAC Subspecialty Day as well as the pre-meeting Patellofemoral Instability Lab!

There were a number of papers recognized with awards:

Overall Best Paper: Nicholas Mohtadi

Innovation Award: Christina Jenny Greenfield

Top Resident/Fellow Paper: Riley Hemstock

Best Clinical Paper: Jillian Karpyshyn

This year a number of papers were recognized with awards:

Overall Best Paper: Jillian Karpyshyn

Global Impact Award: R. Kyle Martin

Innovation Award: Jillian McNally

Best Clinical Paper: Reza Ojaghi

• Due to COVID-19, the COA, CORS, and CORA Annual Meeting  happened virtually this year over two days on June 19-20, 2020. Subspecialty Day took place on the second day of the two-day annual meeting. AAC delivered a great sports/arthroscopy programming in the first half of the day. For an overview of last year’s program, see below:COA Paper Session: Sports – 9:45 – 10:45 EDT
  Moderators: Jordan Buchko and Moin Khan
  
  COA/AAC Knee Symposium 1 – 11:00 – 12:00 EDT
  Moderators: Joel Lobo and Allison Tucker
  1. AAC/CAS/COA Position Statement on Intra-articular Joint Injections – Brendan Sheehan
  2. ACL Injury Prevention – Jennifer A. Fletcher
  3. ACL Graft Selection – Darren de SA
  4. Primary ACL Repair: When and How – Sasha Carsen

  COA/AAC Knee Symposium 2 – 12:30 – 13:30 EDT
  Moderators: Brendan Sheehan and Jarret Woodmass

  1. Revision ACL: Indications for 1 versus 2 Stage – Catherine M. Coady
  2. ACL Reconstruction in the Context of Malalignment – S. Mark Heard
  3. Osteochondral Injury: Allograft & Autograft Options – Michael Pickell
  4. Advances in Cartilage Regeneration and Biologics – John A. Grant

• Many thanks to all who participated in the 2019 COA Annual Meeting and AAC Subspecialty Day in the beautiful city of Montreal. For the second year in a row, the AAC organized a full day of sport medicine talks, discussions, expert panels, tips and tricks, and even a Pecha Kucha. If you were unable to attend the event, here is a brief recap of some of the highlights…Specialty Day started off strong with an excellent sport medicine paper session moderated by Drs. Cathy Coady and Moin Khan. Once again, the AAC recognized the best presenters with a number of Awards. Congratulations to this year’s winners:Best Clinical Paper: Post-Operative Laxity, Functional Performance, and Quality of Life Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction – Dr. Mireille Marquis, Banff Sport MedicineBest Randomized Controlled Trial: ACL-R With and Without LET – Assessment of Failure at 2 Years – STABILITY Study – Dr. Alan Getgood, Fowler Kennedy CentreBest Fellows Paper: Utility of 3D Printed Models in Hip Arthroscopy – Dr. A P Tejaswi Ravipati, Dalhousie UniversityBest Basic Science Paper: Complete Capsular Repair Restores Native Kinematics Following Interportal and T-Capsulotomy – Dr. Ryan Degen, Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine ClinicBest Resident Podium Presentation: Assessment of Engaging Hill-Sachs Lesions with Computed Tomography 3D Reconstruction and a Biomechanical Approach – Dr. Jimmy Tat, University of TorontoBest Poster: Hip and Groin Injuries in Pro Basketball Players: Impact on Playing Career and QOL After Retirement – Dr. Moin Khan, McMaster UniversityBest Poster – Systematic Review: Meta-Analysis of Articular Damage Following ACL-R in Adolescents – Dr. Jeffrey KayNext up was a Pecha Kucha debate moderated by Dr. Laurie Hiemstra. Pecha… what… you ask? In Japanese, Pecha Kucha means “ChitChat,” and refers specifically to a form of presentation were individuals show 20 slides for 20 seconds each. A total of four esteemed surgeons were tasked with presenting their argument in this format. How did they do? The cheers from the audience were a clear indication of the session’s success! Hats off to Drs. David Sheps, Tracey Wentzell, Nick Mohtadi, and Femi Ayeni for their excellent presentations and commendable sportsmanship.

  The popular Tips & Tricks session ensued, with Drs. Sebastian Tomescu, Ivan Wong, and Tim Dwyer presenting their techniques for tibial tubercle osteotomy, superior capsular reconstruction, and femoral condyle cartilage lesion repair, respectively.

  This session also included an inaugural live surgery demonstration by Dr. Peter MacDonald of his technique for harvesting and preparing a quadriceps tendon autograft for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

  The afternoon included a symposium on Osteotomies about the Knee . Presenters Drs. Bob Litchfield, Marie Gdalevitch, Jarret Woodmass, Nathan Urquhart, and Laurie Hiemstra provided insight into preoperative planning and surgical techniques for less conventional osteotomies such as the lateral closing wedge HTO, distal femoral osteotomy, and derotation osteotomy. Thought-provoking discussions were had, and many minds were opened.

  At the end of the day, the AAC combined with the CSES to host a debate on shoulder instability featuring the expertise of AAC upper extremity surgeons including Drs. Paul Martineau, Peter MacDonald, and Bob Litchfield.

  The AAC also hosted a cadaver lab , providing members attending the COA with the opportunity to practice new arthroscopic techniques under the supervision of expert instructors. Many thanks to Drs. Ivan Wong and Brendan Sheehan for organizing this sold-out event.

  Other notable COA highlights that were not part of Specialty Day included an ICL on Gender Diversity moderated by Dr. Laurie Hiemstra. The event featured discussions surrounding barriers and biases for women in orthopaedics, as well as strategies on how to surmount these obstacles.

  Don’t forget to mark your calendars for next year’s COA in Halifax, June 3-6 (Specialty Day on June 6 ^th ). See you all there!

The Inaugural AAC Residents Course was held January 2019 in Toronto, chaired by Drs. Laurie Hiemstra and Cathy Coady.  Many thanks to our faculty, Brendan Sheehan, Nathan Urquhart, Darren De Sa, John Grant and Bogdan Matache.  Thanks also to Sara Sparavalo and Trinity Wittman for helping to organize the logistics.

A two-hour lecture session started out the evening. It was a power session covering all the topics in 2 hours. A mix of cases, mini lectures and videos, we filled their heads with stage appropriate knee surgery topics including ACL graft choice, the role of the anterolateral ligament, patellar instability, meniscal root repair, PCL reconstruction and the approach to the multi-ligament knee.

Worn out, we retired to the lobby bar for networking and socializing.  Possibly the most important part of the meeting, as we got to know each other and were able to talk about orthopaedics, life, residency, finding a job and any topic they wanted to approach us with.

Sunday morning began at the Conmed head office with coffee and breakfast snacks thoughtfully provided by Conmed.  As the coffee entered our systems, John Grant when through a video of a knee arthroscopy, giving tips and tricks and hints for successful arthroscopy.  Five lab stations were set up with Donnie knees for the residents to work on. We suggested arthroscopy, meniscal repair, ACL to start.  MPFL, PCL as they desired.  A knot tying station was set up in the corner for use if their partner was using the scope.  This was very popular, and Bogdan Matache imparted his knot tying knowledge to all.  We ended the session with a knee examination session, covering a complete patellar instability examination, ACL examination, dial test and other rotatory instability tests.