It gives me great pleasure to invite you to the Orthopaedica Belgica Congres 2022 from 19th till 20th of May in Bruges. The Bruges Meeting and Convention Centre is a superb venue being of sufficient capacity to host our BVOT and SORBCOT membership.

The 2022 Orthopaedica Belgica is back in person. Let’s make this a success and one of our best annual meetings yet, by getting back to the unforgettable moments, the friendships and camaraderie, the knowledge sharing, and the opportunities for succes we create when we are together.

The COVID 19 pandemic and the impact on our profession and patient care made one realise that acting as one big orthopaedic family does remain of invaluable importance. It was therefore decided to abandon the ‘more traditional’ build up of the congres around the different subgroups, to breakdown the ‘silos’, and to organise OB 2022 around one common subject in order to strengthen our unity and knowledge.

The meeting is filled with orthopaedic education and science applicable for all career stages and subspecialities. The subject ‘The Value of New Technology in Orthopaedics’ envisages to build awareness of the broad array of technical developments that might evolve within specific subspecialities and serve us all. Refined and newer technologies - such as augmented en virtual reality, PSI, smart implants, simulation and planning, robotics - will be a strategic part of our answer to the challenges our orthopaedic community will face. They will be presented and discussed by a mixed national and international faculty. The program does contain lectures, video presentations and ample time for lively debate and discussion. Alongside the main technical topics and their future developments, a session on the value and position of the ‘Human Quotient’ is embedded with keynote lectures from JN Argenson and I Devisch. Our junior members are actively involved in all main sessions and are scheduled to present their research proceedings.

The BMCC offers a large area for industry exhibition. This is a vital part of our meeting since we rely on their continued genereous support for the scientific, educational and other activities that make our BVOT/SORBCOT society to what they are. The Orthopaedica Belgica Meeting does provide you with a platform to liaise with our industrial partners and I am sure this will prove to be an insightful and interesting addition to the scientific program.

Bruges as a city offers the perfect scenery for OB 2022. The old town with many hotels, restaurants, and nice cultural musea and buildings, to wind down from a day of lectures and gather with friends, is only a very short stone throw away from the BMCC.

I hope you will all have a fantastic and enjoyable two days in Bruges – after the last couple of years, we’ve certainly earned it!

With very best wishes

Frank Plasschaert
President BVOT

Nanni Allington
President SORBCOT