It all began in the 1950s, when a group of visionary surgeons came together to turn upend traditional bone fracture healing methods. They championed revolutionary techniques of internal fixation, and in 1958, established the AO Foundation, which has stood for pioneering spirit and innovation ever since.
The founders based their activities on four pillars: the development of implants and instruments, research into fracture healing, patient documentation, and teaching osteosynthesis techniques. Thereby, they created an effective approach to holistic patient care and paved the way for the AO's sustainable relevance.
When AO founders Maurice E Müller and Martin Allgöwer introduced what later became the AO's flagship educational event, 69 surgeons came to Davos, Switzerland for a four-day course to learn the new surgical techniques considered experimental at the time. Today, the annual AO Davos Courses attract more than 1,500 health care professionals from over 80 countries every year.
After conducting numerous educational events worldwide, the AO was now formally established as an international organization. Today, the AO has a global network of over 200,000 health care professionals. Each year it offers over 830 educational events around the world, which are supported by nearly 9,000 faculty and are attended by over 58,000 participants.
With increasing specialization, various clinical divisions had emerged and developed their own dedicated communities and targeted activities. Gradually, one specialty after another was established as an AO clinical division, most recently AO Trauma in 2008.
A global needs assessment survey initiated by the AO Trauma Educational Commission and involving with more than 4,000 participants revealed an immense and insufficiently addressed need for arthroplasty education. The rising numbers of arthroplasty and periprosthetic fracture cases called for specialized education and expert advice in this field.
AO Recon celebrated its debut event at the annual meeting of the Chinese Orthopaedic Association (COA) in Beijing, China. The all-day seminar, titled "Basic Principles in Hip and Knee Joint Reconstruction," attracted more than 1,000 participants. The international faculty board included key opinion leaders who are still very active with AO Recon today. The event also marked AO Recon's first collaboration with an orthopedic association.
The AO Recon Education Forum, a group of surgeons nominated by the AO Recon Steering Board lead development of AO Recon's educational content, met in London for the first time. These experts involved are key opinion leaders in the field of joint preservation and replacement. Together, they form the AO Recon Education Delegation (later renamed the AO Recon Education Forum). With visionary thinking and a deep understanding of global needs, they will make a significant contribution to AO Recon's future success.
With an intense workshop in Prague, this task force started its work: This group of expert arthroplasty surgeons develops AO Recon’s educational content based on the needs of defined target learners and content scope, resulting in a curriculum from which courses are derived. The curriculum task force formed in 2014 today deals with hip and knee arthroplasty. Additional curriculum task forces on other topics would follow.
A number of key AO surgeons took the initiative to meet the increased need for arthroplasty education. Today, the initiators from that time—Dan Berry (United States), Norbert Haas (Germany) and Carsten Perka (Germany)—are members of the Steering Board, along with Keith Mayo (US). They lead AO Recon as a network of orthopedic surgeons delivering best-in-class education in joint preservation and replacement.
