Federation of the European Societies for Surgery of the Hand FESSH

Federation of the European Societies for Surgery of the Hand FESSH

FESSH Management Office
c/o ASSZISZTENCIA Congress Bureau
Hegedûs Gyula u. 20.
H-1136 Budapest, Hungary
Tel: +36 1 350-1854 | Fax: +36 1 350-0929
E-mail: info@fessh.com

History of the FESSH

The idea of a linking organization of all hand surgery societies in Europe stems from meetings of colleagues from different European nations on the basis of personal friend-ships, such as the Franco/German symposium for hand surgery in 1964 organized by Verdan under the patronage of the Swiss National Exhibition.

The International Federation of the Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), created in 1966, grew fast from only 8 national societies in the beginning to 45 in 2000 and was an inspiration for their 19 European to form an own Federation of the European Societies of the Hand (FESSH).

This dream became reality when Professor Caroli presented a draft proposal for a European Federation constitution in 1989 and subsequently, 15 representatives of nations met in Paris on the 11 February 1990 to advance the development of this linking organization. Thirteen Hand Societies had agreed the draft constitution with Norway and Sweden as observers. Since 1993, a total of 12 annual meetings with instructional courses have been organized, the next meeting in 2008 will take place in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The federation is still growing and today unifies the hand surgical societies of 25 European member countries including as the newest FESSH Members the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Russia: (in alphabetical order) Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Repuplic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey and United Kingdom. The principle objective purposes is still the promotion and harmonization of training throughout Europe, to define and provide qualifications and encourage exchange opportunities for younger hand surgeons as a part of their training. The Federation is led by Secretary General rather then a President, supported by a Treasurer and 10 council members (Table 2).

Role of the Historian within the FESSH

The main objective of the historian’ s work within the FESSH is to provide an overview of the research and advances made by those from various European countries who took part in the development of what has become the surgical specialty devoted to the human hand.

An important source in this regard is of course the medical literature. In our European Journal of Hand Surgery, original articles are republished regularly to describe in detail the respective contributions from the different countries and show the historical background of the respective innovation with a portrait of its author such as recently Paget (first description of carpal tunnel syndrome), Lexer (first flexor tendon transplantation) or Esmarch (tourniquet for bloodless operative field), This collection of articles shall be soon expanded by personal recollections of famous masters of hand on their teachers and by further contributions on the hand surgery development from Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia and Turkey.

It is planned to launch a historical book library with exchange of old books during meetings (Historical Book Corner) and digital scans and to start a historical bibliography started, including journals, biographies, procedures, techniques, associations, meetings and rare books.

Regarding the famous quotation “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” by George Santayana, we could summarize the objective of our exploring the historical development of hand surgery to be aware of the past of our speciality and thus know the present and be prepared for the future. In addition, we can safe time and paper, have fun and make new friends.

Andreas Gohritz
Historian

 

FESSH National Society Members

Full membership can be given to a national society of a country that is member of the Council of Europe. Corresponding membership is available to societies not belonging to the Council of Europe.


Austrian Society for Surgery of the Hand (ÖGH)Österreichische Gesellschaft für Handchirurgie
Belgian Hand Group (BHG)
British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH)
Czech Society for Surgery of the Hand (CSCR)Ceská Spolecnost Chirurgie Ruky
Danish Society for Surgery of the Hand (DSFH)Dansk Selskab for Handkirurgi
Dutch Society for Surgery of the Hand (NVvH) Nederlandse Vereniging voor Hand Chirurgie
Finnish Society for Surgery of the Hand (SKI)Suomen Kasikirugi Yhdistys
French Society for Surgery of the Hand (SFCM/GEM) Société Française de Chirurgie de la Main
German Society for Surgery of the Hand (DGH) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Handchirurgie
Hellenistic Society for Surgery of the Hand (EEXX)
Irish Hand Surgery Society (IHSS)
Italian Society for Surgery of the Hand (SICM) Societá Italiana di Chirurgia della Mano
Norwegian Society for Surgery of the Hand (NFH) Norsk Forening for Handkirugi
Polish Society for Surgery of the Hand (PTCR) Polskie Towarzystwo Chirugii Reki
Portugal Society for Surgery of the Hand (SPOCMA) Sociedade Portuguesa de Cirurgia da Mão
Romanian Society for Surgery of the Hand (SRCR) Societatea Romana de Chirurgie a Mainii
Russian Society for Surgery of the Hand (RSSH)
Slovenian Society for Surgery of the Hand (SSSH)
Spanish Society for Surgery of the Hand (SECMA) Sociedad Espanola de Cirugia de la Mano
Swedish Society for Surgery of the Hand (SHF) Svensk Handkirurgisk Forening
Swiss Society for Surgery of the Hand (SSCM - SGH) Societé Suisse de Chirurgie de la Main
Turkish Society for Surgery of the Hand and Upper Extremity (TCD) Türk El Ve Üst Ekstremite Cerrahisi Denei

Corresponding Members

Israel Society for Surgery of the Hand (ISSH)
Lithuanian Society for Surgery of the Hand (LSSH)
Slovak Society for Surgery of the Hand (SSCR) Slovenská Spoloènosti Chirurgie Ruky
South African Society for Surgery of the Hand (SASSH)


2009 FESSH Federation of the European Societies for Surgery of the Hand, Eurohand 2009 Poznan, Poland Jun 3 - 6 2009

2009 FESSH Fed of the Euro Societies for Surgery of the Hand, 1st European Hand Injury Prevention Congress, Bursa, Turkey Jun 25 - 27 2009

2010 FESSH Federation of the European Societies for Surgery of the Hand XV Annual FESSH Congress, Bucharest, Romania Jun 23 - 26 2010

2011 FESSH Federation of the European Societies for Surgery of the Hand XVI FESSH Congress, Oslo, Norway May 26 - 28 2011

2012 FESSH Federation of European Societies for Surgery of the Hand, 17th FESSH Congress, Antwerp, Belgium Jun 21 - 23 2012

2013 FESSH Federation of European Societies for Surgery of the Hand, 18th FESSH Congress, Antalya, Turkey May 30 - Jun 1 2013

2014 FESSH Federation of European Societies for Surgery of the Hand, 19th FESSH Congress, Paris, France May 18 - 21 2014