The 5th World Congress of Sports Trauma & 6th Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Meeting has been held with great success in Hong Kong on April 11-13, 2008 at the Prince of Wales Hospital.

The joint event is hosted by Asia-Pacific Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (APOSSM), and co-organized by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Sports Medicine and Health Sciences Centre, CUHK-WHO Collaborating Centre for Sports Medicine and Health Promotion, Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Orthopaedic Association – Sports Medicine Chapter (HKOA-SMC), and Hong Kong Association of Sports Medicine and Sports Science (HKASMSS), with the support of 13 local and international sporting organizations, including international Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS), Asian Federation of Sports Medicine (AFSM), International Society of Arthrosopy, Knee surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine (ISAKOS), and Japan Shoulder Association etc.

Under the superb leadership of Prof KM Chan (Hong Kong), President of WCST and Prof Mitsuo Ochi (Japan), Program Chair, the congress was well received with a record breaking registration of over 1000 participants from over 50 regions/countries. The comprehensive scientific program showcased the greatest line up of renowned faculties from all over the world.

There were more than 100 guest speakers delivering over 120 guests’ lectures in 20 symposia and debates/forums, along with the 300 free papers (in the form of podium and E-poster presentations) in the area of Knee, Shoulder, Sports Medicine, Hip Foot & Ankle, Elbow and Wrist.

Moreover, never in history of such a world congress could we stage 8 live surgeries with specific themes and techniques to be shown to the international participants. The industry workshop was yet another outstanding feature where there was a great deal of hands-on experience and direct interaction between the mentors and participants. We have successfully put on 7 practical workshops through out the 3-day program.

Thanks to the hard work of the Program and Organizing committee, all these elements have been blended well into a comprehensive program with great variety which has been run very smoothly.

There was also an extensive exhibition to show case the state-of-the-art technology and advanced products and instruments by 12 exhibitors.....not to mention many other pre- & post-conference program, such as ISL&T – Hong Kong meeting 2008, FIMS-AFSM Team Physician Course on Olympic equestrian games and ASA Shoulder Arthroscopy Workshop. All of these programs were all well attended with lots of favorable responses.

All of our faculties and industrial partners have also enjoyed very much the Congress Banquet held on April 11, 2008. Not only did they enjoy the traditional Chinese Cuisine, they were also impressed by the excellent Lion dance and Chinese Orchestra performance that were especially arranged for our international guests. We have also witnessed many talents in performance by various delegates around the world.

This is indeed the best ever World Congress of Sports Trauma in the history, in terms of the facilities, academic value, social activities, organization, attendance & favorite responses. All these could have never been made possible without the enormous support from the host and organizers, the sporting fraternities, industrial partners and sponsors…