Inaugural Address

Archive Congresses 2004

The European Trauma Society is pleased to gather the representatives of the European Trauma Surgery here in Prague for the 6th time. The large number of participants shows that there is a common goal - the best possible care of trauma patients, preferably at the same high level in all European countries.

This concern may unify us, but it is yet a special challenge to identify the interests of trauma surgeons in Europe, as they themselves - limited due to their national perspective - are not sure about their demands and ambitions. To generate generally accepted European directives can be regarded as a life-task, comparable with the labour of Sisyphus. Everybody will benefit from the consolidation of the European traumatology: patients, insurance companies, political systems and physicians.
Therefore we all need the European Trauma Society. This society is cordially inviting all of its members to further the efforts of the ETS, and it is inviting all non-members to join the ETS, and - moreover - to promote its membership.

I can report, that we can observe an increasing interest of national trauma societies as well as individuals to become members of the ETS; in many cases the negotiations are in progress.
The unification of the ETS and EATES seems to be possible. It could result in the formation of a strong European society that is bound to traumatology.

In 2003 the Israeli Society of Trauma became a new member of the ETS.
At the moment we carry on negotiations with
S.I.O.T. (the Italian Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology)
The Bosnia and Herzegovina Orthopedic and Traumatology Association and
The Society of Traumatology (of Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Furthermore the European Trauma Society is working on the harmonisation of the educational program for trauma surgeons in Europe, and the recognition of the European exam for trauma surgeons at national level (i.e. the European Board of Surgery Qualification, Division Traumatology at the UEMS). There is a close connection between the recognition of trauma surgery as an independent speciality and the recognition of the EBSQ.

If you want to know more about our activities, you are cordially invited to attend the General Meeting of the ETS on Wednesday, May 19th, at 1 p.m., in the Forum Hall.

We are in the beginning of the Congress in Prague, we do not know, how it will process. The President and the Secretary of the Congress are finalising a two years lasting and very time consuming organisational work. They wish you, the participants, to be satisfied with the fruit of their work.
I feel I must thank our President Dr. Petr Zelnicek, and our Secretary of the Congress, Prof. Dr. Peter Wendsche, who did the lion's share of the performed services, for their extraordinary work. Having survived this, it will testify their believe in the sense and purpose of a European Traumatology and the importance of the ETS. The work is done, I wish you a good harvest!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I think you will agree with us, that special achievements for traumatology in Europe, resp. the "Europeanisation" of traumatology should deserve adequate acknowledgement. The tribute to those, who recognised a long time ago the necessity of the foundation and furtherance of the ETS, as we now do, is the slightest to say thank you.
Because of their activities for the ETS Prof. Dr. Jörg Böhler, Wien; Prof. Dr. Maurice Müller, Bern; Prof. Dr. Jenö Manninger, Budapest; Prof. Dr. Jacques Gruwez, Leuven; Prof. Dr. Jens Witte, Augsburg; and Prof. Dr. Emanuel Trojan, Vienna, were awarded, up to now, honorary members of the ETS.

Today we want to honour 2 active combatant for the speciality traumatology. Please welcome with me Prof. Dr. Antal Renner from Budapest and Dr. Jan Simon Klaas Luitse from Amsterdam.

The first European Trauma Congress developed from the joint meetings of the German Society of Traumatology, the Austrian Trauma Society, and the Swiss Society of Traumatology and Occupational Medicine. It was organised in 1994 in Budapest - a meeting of national Trauma Societies of Central Europe. The President of this meeting was Prof. Dr. Antal Renner, at this time he was also president of the Hungarian Trauma Society.

Let me introduce in a view words the professional career of Prof. Renner:
          He was born in Budapest on January 8, 1933. He finished the secondary school in 1952. Graduated from the Faculty of General Medicine of the Medical University in Budapest in 1958.

          In October of 1956 as an injured of the national revolution - being a medical student in his last year - he was admitted to the National Institute of Traumatology, where he was treated by doctor Jeno Manninger, who became later his best master.

          His medical career began when the National Iinstitute - and so the independent trauma and hand surgery - was established and organised in Hungary. Doctor Renner was also attracted by this innovative and creative period. His leaders sent him to the most excellent training schools of Europe to acquire the knowledge of Böhler's classical traumatology, surgical fracture treatment according to AO-International, finally of modern hand surgery.
          In 1976 he was given the academic degree PhD, in 1988 became Doctor of Medical Sciences at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

          From 1978 he was Deputy Director General of the Institute assisting professor Manninger; titular professor, from 1989 - after prof. Manninger's retirement - became Director General of the National Institute and was appointed professor of the Chair of Traumatology; based on his activity from 1992 it became the Chair of Trauma and Hand Surgery. He achieved that hand surgery became a subspecialty with special board exam in Hungary.

          He further promoted and strengthened excellent friendly contacts of the Hungarian trauma and hand surgeons, established by his predeccors with many countries of Europe, and made new friendships in both specialties.

His scientific and research-organizing activity is impressing:

He activated bilateral friendly-professional contacts with the foreign partner societies, and towns, institutes in the field of trauma and hand surgery: Hungarian-Austrian; Hungarian-DAH; Hungarian-Bulgarian; National Institute of Traumatology-Traumatological Clinic of Kosice; NIT-Hungarian Faculty of Medical University in Marosvásárhely; NIT-Székelyudvarhely; NIT-Ludwig Boltzmann Institute, Vienna; NIT-LMU München

He organised several international congresses: among them:
the 1st Central-European Congress on Traumatology in 1994 in Budapest, with almost 900 participants.

He has published 221 original papers, wrote 15 chapters in several books and
  has given 322 lectures on different congresses.

He is member of the Editorial Board of several journals

And he is winner of scientific research competitions and assisting master of
  talented young colleagues

He is member of several special committees of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Doctors' Representative of the General Assembly; member of the 2nd Doctor's Committee

He is a leading personality in the most important medical societies in Hungary


Honorary memberships:

And we want to thank Dr. Jan Luitse, who established the European Trauma Society at the European Trauma Congress in Amsterdam in 1998, assisted by Prof. Haarman, Prof. van der Werken, and Dr. Harry Pot.
When the European Trauma Society was founded, the proponent-committee recommended Dr. Luitse as first President of the ETS.

Let me introduce in a view words the professional career of Dr. Luitse:
He was born in September 1951 in Amsterdam.
He started his medical education at the Medical School of the Free University in Amsterdam in 1969.

In the years 1978 - 1984 he was surgical resident at the St.Lucas Hospital Amsterdam.
In 1984 he was Visiting Trauma Fellow at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover.

From 1985 to 1999 he was General and Trauma Surgeon at the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Hospital Amsterdam.
Since 1989 he was the Medical Director of the Emergency Department of this hospital.
In 1999 he became Head of the Trauma Unit at the Academic Medical Centre Amsterdam
And since 2004 he is Medical Director of the Emergency Department of the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam.

He is member of several external committees

The European Trauma Society wants to thank now Dr. Luitse by awarding the honorary membership of the ETS.

Last but not least it is a great pleasure for me to hand over the ETS-Award for the first time. The European Trauma Society launched this award for the best original article published in the European Journal of Trauma. The winner of the ETS-Award 2003 has been selected by the ETS-Board and the editors of the EJT.
I am glad to hand out the award to:

Dr. Johannes Frank, together with his co-authors Karsten Born, John Barker and Ingo Marzi for their original article: "In Vivo Effect of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha on Wound Angiogenesis and Epithalialization".

Thank you for your attention, we wish you an interesting and successful meeting.

Archive Congresses 2004