ISAKOS Approved Teaching Center

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Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Training Center

Center Information

Meibergdreef 9
Amsterdam, North-Holland 1105AZ
NETHERLANDS
https://www.acesamsterdam.nl

The Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine of the Amsterdam UMC is an orthopedic sports medicine clinical and research institute. Our program has officially been accredited as an Expert Centre for the treatment of foot and ankle cartilage injuries in 2018 by the Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU) and in 2021 by the International Cartilage Regeneration and Joint Preservation Society (ICRS) as Center of Excellence (https://cartilage.org/teaching-centre/amsterdam-umc-location-amc/). Our department is known for the care for (elite) athletes with muscle injuries and stress fractures to the lower extremities, (sports) orthopaedic puzzle cases and cartilage lesions of the foot and ankle (www.acesamsterdam.nl / www.slhamsterdam.com) We provide world-class state-of-the-art multidisciplinary medical care for patients of all ages and (professional) athletes, conduct elite-level research, and stimulate knowledge transfer through educational programs. Our program focuses on both the clinical and research part of the injured patient with muscle injuries of the lower extremity, stress fractures of the lower extremity as well as cartilage lesions of the foot and/or ankle as well as the knee. We provide an individualized evidence-based treatment algorithm based on patient and radiological characteristics. Through this, we are able to decide the most effective treatment option for the patient. Our treatment algorithm is supplemented with an inventive minimally invasive arthroscopic technique – the Nanoscope which is a novel imaging system that is used for instant diagnostic imaging and less invasive arthroscopic procedures. This 1.9 mm arthroscope is more commonly used in orthopedic care worldwide, however, the Amsterdam UMC was the first to use this technical innovation. This novel technique is accompanied by several recent publications. Our clinical care for patients goes hand in hand with high-quality research guided by increasing insights in diagnosis and (minimally invasive arthroscopic) treatment from the latest scientific research. Our current (research) team is highly active and currently consists of 10 (associate) professors, 5 post-doctoral researchers, 36 PhD-candidates, and 30 students conducting scientific research. The active nature of our team has led to the production of more than 200 muscle and/or cartilage-related publications over the past decade.

Primary Language Spoken: English/Dutch
Sponosoring ISAKOS Member(s): No

Contact Information

Prof. Dr. G.M.M.J. Kerkhoffs, Professor, MD, PhD, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Chair Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine

Fellowship Program Information

Affiliation (Center Type): Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit (Teaching, Academic, University)
Fellowship Training Session or Other Educational Opportunity Length: 2 weeks - 1 year depending on financial situation
Can the Center customize educational opportunities for participants?: Yes
Fellows Accepted Per Year: 5
Faculty Participating in Fellowship Education: Prof. Dr. Kerkhoffs, MD, PhD Dr. Krips, MD, PhD Dr. de Leeuw, MD, PhD Prof. Maas, MD, PhD Dr. Reurink, MD, PhD Dr. Stufkens, MD, PhD Prof. Dr. Tol, MD, PhD Prof. Verhagen, PhD Dr. Wijne, MD Dr. Arthur Kievit Dr. Matthias Schafroth Dr. Aernout Zuiderbaan
Recent activity of Teaching Center: Concerning the three different pillars, it can be stated that for the muscle injuries, we have recently organized and facilitated an extensive training session for our international centers how to perform the physical examination for (severe) hamstring injuries. This is necessary because of the specific handles needed during strength and flexibility tests. Recently, we have also organized two extensive full training days for all the residents and staff members of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine of the the Amsterdam UMC in order to train them how to handle the NanoScope. This was essential because of the fact that the NanoScope differs from the conventional arthroscope in inclination (0o degrees instead of 30o degrees) and the range of view. After, all staff members and residents stated that they are competent in using the NanoScope for daily clinical practice. Concerning the activity of the Teaching Center regarding the cartilage injuries of the foot/ankle, it can be stated that we are currently involved a high number of events and research activities – currently we are guest-editing two Guest-Editions for the CARTILAGE Journal, a journal with an impact factor of 4.6. Moreover, we are involved in making clinical guidelines on an (inter)national level through active participation in the International Consensus Statement meetings organized by the International Society for Cartilage Repair of the Ankle (ISCRA). The team is also actively involved in a bi-monthly meeting, the Amsterdam Ankle Cartilage Meeting partaking on the Friday mornings in the hospital with 20-30 participants actively involved and with numerous research projects being presented. On a regular basis, we are receiving and hosting national international fellows in order to have them gain experience in Sports Medicine, Arthroscopy and Sports Traumatology. Embedded within our department is the training of orthopedic and sports medicine physician residents partaking in clinical care on a daily basis as part of their training program – with a total of 10-12 of these residents on a yearly basis.

Anticipated Fellowship Participation in Surgical Cases

Arthroscopy 20%
Knee Surgery 20%
Sports Medicine 20%
Ankle/Foot 30%
Needle Arthroscopy 10%
Area(s) of Specialty: Ankle Arthroscopy Knee Arthroplasty Knee Arthroscopy Pediatrics Other
Role of the fellow with respect to Clinical, Surgical, Research, and other opportunities: The visiting fellow will be able to partake in the different facets of our daily multidisciplinary work – ranging from clinical care to research. The fellow will be exposed to a large quantity of sports orthopedics and sports medicine cases in our clinic and in affiliated clinical centers, and will be linked to the involved team depending on preference as well as availability. The attendant will be invited and motivated to partake in the research meetings that occur bi-monthly on the Friday morning as well as in other research-related meetings that are organized at our institution or at the affiliated institutions. Whenever the visiting attendant is interested in a specific field of research, the attendant can be linked to the specific research person involved in that field in order to connect and potentially initiate a joint project as part of the fellowship. He or she will be welcomed and this will be supported as such.
Types of Educational Opportunities: Participate as an observer only, Scrub in for surgery, Work on cadavers, Assist with research, Publishing opportunities
Research projects, research facilities and resources, cadaver labs, publication opportunities, integration of the patient and public involvement, and the role of the fellow: There is a large diversity of research projects currently ongoing. We list 3 pillars. The first one is described as incremental cartilage damage in the ankle: the cascade analogy. Hence, we research the primary and secondary prevention of cartilage lesions, diagnosis, and (after-)treatment of very early cartilage damage, osteochondral lesions, and end-stage osteoarthritis. Furthermore, we have developed novel surgical techniques that are now standard care, such as the Lift Drill, Fill, and Fix (LDFF, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31520147/ & https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24841940/) procedure for fragmentous osteochondral lesions and the Talar OsteoPeriostic grafting from the Iliac Crest (TOPIC, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32902691/) procedure. concerning end-stage osteo-arthritis, a recently performed study was published in the JAMA journal (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34698782/). We are continuously researching novel innovative (preventive) interventions. Besides this, we are currently performing Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) for cartilage lesions of the ankle. Our second important pillar is the research on the prevention and treatment of stress fractures and muscle injuries of the lower extremity – especially the hamstring muscle group. For hamstring muscle injuries, we launched an international registry to gather data on severe hamstring muscle injuries. This provides the opportunity to continuously prospectively update the evidence on prognostic factors and the effectiveness of treatments of these injuries by conducting high quality research studies on multiple clinically relevant research questions. The third important pillar is the research related to the NanoScope. Several research studies are currently being performed with the use of the NanoScope as central theme. Visitors and/or fellows are more than welcome to become a member of our research team and provide innovative novel ideas.
Related Conference/Lecture Schedule: The department offers bi-monthly early Friday morning meetings consisting of research presented and discussed by the Amsterdam Ankle Cartilage Team and consist of monthly Thursday afternoon scientific sessions during which research projects from the department are presented and discussed. Furthermore, we offer a TKA course as well as a yearly Ankle Arthroscopy course.
Athletic Team Coverage: The department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine covers the medical care for Football Club AJAX (both youth as well as senior teams), and our program is requested as consultant care for a high number of different athletic teams across the country. Furthermore, the department is also in the lead for the Dutch National Olympic Team Sports Trauma Care & Education.

Financial Support and Expenses

Types of Financial Support Available: No financial assistance or other support is available
Other support that the Teaching Center can provide: We are willing to help and look for foundation support also depending from which country the fellows come to visit our Amsterdam center.
Estimate of Living Expenses (Housing and other major costs): Our team can help fellows get in contact for housing opportunities in the city. An estimate of the living expenses are 2000 euros per month for housing which are the living costs in the Netherlands.