2024 ISAKOS Knee Arthroplasty Forum: Highlights from Kyoto

Claudia Arias, MD, PERU Magaly Iñiguez, MD, CHILE

ISAKOS eNewsletters   eNewsletter Article 2025   Not yet rated

The ISAKOS Knee Arthroplasty Committee organized the second edition of the International Knee Arthroplasty Forum (IKAF), an entire meeting dedicated to knee replacement. The Forum was held in the stunning and historic city of Kyoto, Japan, from October 31 to November 1, 2024. The 397 attendees reflected the increasing global interest in this field, with most attendees (76.07%) being from the Asia-Pacific region, followed by Europe (11%), Latin America (7.30%), North America (4.28%) and the Middle East/Africa (2.52%) (Figure 1).

Figure 1 The graph illustrates the global distribution of attendees based on survey results from the 2024 IKAF, held in Kyoto, Japan.

The aim of the meeting was to update knowledge and recommendations regarding evolving concepts in knee arthroplasty, including improved patient management, innovative technologies, and implant advancements that promote best practices in this surgical field.

The innovative format used during the first IKAF, which was held in Viña del Mar two years ago, was replicated. This format featured pre-recorded material on various topics that attendees could review before the conference. This approach prioritized interaction and learning during the meeting through clinical case presentations, debates, crossfire sessions, and discussions, thereby encouraging attendee engagement and active participation. The IKAF mobile app was a useful tool for an easy access to the agenda and information on the faculty.

Our chairs this year were Sebastien Lustig from France and Shuichi Matsuda from Japan, and the program committee members included Myles Coolican (Australia), Magaly Iñiguez (Chile ), Norimasa Nakamura (Japan), David Parker (Australia ), Andrew Price (United Kingdom), and Dan Wascher (USA), all of whom did an impeccable job. The invited faculty featured a global representation of experienced surgeons, including Claudia Arias (Perú), Nicolaas Budhiprama (Indonesia), Gavin Clark (Australia), Mark Clathworthy (New Zealand), Michael Decker (USA), David Figueroa (Chile), Takayuki Hiranaka (Japan), Hiroshi Inui (Japan), Masakazu Ishikawa (Japan), Myung Chul Lee (South Korea), Tomoyuki Matsumoto (Japan), Peter Mc Ewen (Australia), Yukuhide Minoda (Japan), Philippe Neyret (France), Tomoki Ohori (Japan), Ken Okazaki (Japan), Michael Tim Yun Ong (Hong Kong), Justin Roe (Australia), Eiji Sasaki (Japan), Sachiyuki Tsukada (Japan), Yi Xin Zhou (China), and Zhongke Zhou (China).

Kyoto is an ancient, beautiful city, with a rich culture—what more could we ask for a meeting of great professionals and on such an exciting topic: knee replacement!

So…What did we learn?

ISAKOS fulfills its mission of enhancing research and education by emphasizing innovation and creating connections among peers. The panel discussion of clinical cases from all over the world provided a global panoramic vision and illustrated trends in surgical treatments.

Much of the discussion focused on how to achieve good outcomes through proper planning and alignment, knowledge of the different types of implants, perfecting our surgical technique, and knowing how to evaluate results. However, we also discussed what we don't usually talk about: the complications that will ultimately make us better surgeons and help us to achieve better outcomes for our patients.

Needless to say, this diverse event enabled us to meet surgeons from Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia--what a way to network! Interactions with colleagues from around the world provides a global perspective on the concepts that we discuss and allows us not only to only exchange academic opinions but also to establish interpersonal relationships. ISAKOS is always at the forefront of creating these connections in such an effective way.

Attendees were very satisfied with the well-organized sessions, high-level faculty, and overall format. The IKAF is establishing itself as a global benchmark in knee arthroplasty education and supports the ISAKOS mission of promoting the worldwide exchange and dissemination of teaching based on state-of-the-art, evolving concepts and new trends in the field.

What surprises will the next forum have? We will pay close attention to our Chairs as well as the feedback from the Participant Evaluation Survey, so stay tuned for the many new things are coming in the future. The next IKAF will be held in Brussels, Belgium 2026. We hope to see you there!