Hellenic Society of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology

The term "Orthopaedics" was first used by the French Professor Nicolas Andry, who, combining the Greek words "órthos" and "paedion" (child), attempted to describe a new field of medicine, that of the prevention and treatment of childhood deformities. In the following centuries, the term was adopted internationally by the medical community, as Orthopaedic science evolved, expanding its interest to all congenital, acquired, and traumatic diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Orthopaedic Surgery in our country was initially cultivated within the framework of General Surgery. Immediately after the establishment of the Greek State and the establishment of the first University (Othonian University of Athens, 1837), several General Surgeons showed interest in diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

Ioannis Olympios (1802-1869), the first Professor of Surgical Pathology, was mainly concerned with General Surgery and Ophthalmology, but showed particular interest in Orthopaedics. By 1900, several of his works with orthopedic content had been published in the Bulletin of the Medical Society and other publications. Theodore Aretaios (1829-1893) explained the mechanism of fractures and other orthopedic diseases in his book “Surgical Pathology”. Spyridon Manginas (1839-1920) showed particular interest in Traumatology, as evidenced by his thesis “On Fractures Occurring at the Lower End of the Tibia”. Nikolaos Alevizatos (1875-1945) defended his thesis under the supervision of "On the treatment of Pott's disease and especially the abrupt straightening of kyphosis under chloroform by means of a new machine". Konstantinos Mermigas (1847-1942) studied fractures and presented many works such as "The method of tension by nailing on fractures of the femoral head" (Bulletin of the Medical Society, 1922). Evangelos Kalliontzis in his book "Surgical Surgery" (1899) describes in detail operations on bones.