• EHS: Professor Manel Ribas, who are you, and how can you introduce yourself as an Orthopaedic Surgeon?
I am an orthopaedic surgeon and traumatologist forged in my native city Barcelona and belonging to a part of a long family line of doctors dating back from the 19th century in Barcelona and in the USA. After obtaining in the year 1982 my Bachelor's Degree in Medicine and Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine of the Central University of Barcelona, I made my specialty formation in Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology from 1983 to 1987. My mentor was PhD Josep Mª Vilarrubias, a founding member of the European Hip Society, whom I have so much to thank for.
Since 2005, I am at the head of the Hip Unit of the University Hospital Dexeus (Grupo Quirónsalud, Spanish hospital net affiliated to Fresenius/ Heliosklinikengruppe), Barcelona, Spain. (Medical Institution associated with UAB (Autonomous University of Barcelona). Our Hip unit has a strong medical-existential activity. With 6 consultants O&T hip specialists we perform yearly more than 700 surgical procedures on hip, more than one third focused on hip preserving surgery, and two thirds in hip replacements, be they primary or revisions. Our Department for Orthopaedics and Traumatology has been ranked for 3 consecutive years “best department for Orthopaedics and Trauma in private medicine institutions” in Spain.
Together with Professor Villarubias, 2003, I was a pioneer in hip resurfacing in young adults in Spain, and currently known as one of the most experienced surgeons in this field in the country with more than 1500 cases.
Additionally, as a 5 languages speaker ( Italian, Spanish, Catalan, German, English; good knowledge of written and spoken French and Portuguese), I had the opportunity to translate every 3 months during 13 years the journal “Operative Orthopädie und Traumatologie” from German to Spanish for all Spanish speaking countries in the world as well as to visit and make fellowships abroad (Germany and USA).
• EHS: Do you also get involved in scientific matters and clinical research in Orthopaedics?
Of course! … I couldn’t understand my professional activity without clinical research commitment. As a university hospital, all activity is focused on that aspect. Our highlighting fields and contributions are:
- Minimal Invasive techniques for primary Hip Replacement
- Sports traumatology and sports orthopaedics at the hip
- Hip reconstruction in the young adult
- Hip Preserving Surgery: Minimal Invasive Periacetabular Osteotomy, hip arthroscopy, arthroscopy assisted mini-open technique (AAMOT), save hip dislocation with osteochondral and intracapital femoral osteotomies, pelvic (mainly periacetabular) and femoral osteotomies, Labral repair and reconstruction/transplantation, osteochondral transplantation.
- Hip revision surgery, allografting reconstructive techniques
On the other hand, we promote hip subspecialty formation to national and foreign physicians according to institutional/national/UE regulations. Many specialists from Europe and America have made their formation in hip surgery in our unit as 6 month-educational plans. Furthermore, specialists who desire to increase their pieces of knowledge/skills visit us regularly. We integrate SOV programs as a part of our formation to specialists, especially in the field of soft tissue sparing minimal-invasive surgery.
On May 6th 1986, in my last year of residency, I launched the first Bone Bank in Barcelona and performed the first allogenic bone transplantation in hip revision. Since then, more than 2000 allografting procedures have been performed in my institution under the different sub-specialized Units at the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, one of the most experienced and recognized in whole Spain.
In November 2000, we performed the first procurement and preparation in Spain of a Meniscal Transplant from a cadaveric donor. Working alongside Prof. Dr Jose Maria Villarubias and Dr Josep Tuneu, we transplanted the first meniscus allograft. In 2008, I performed the first to date recognized labrum transplantation in a hip.
Our works have been published in 7 different languages upon the above-mentioned fields as well as more than 30 years of active participation in national and international congresses held in Europe or overseas. I couldn’t stop without quoting my teammates and recognized hip specialists Dr Carlomagno Cárdenas, Vittorio Bellotti, Emanuele Astarita, Gabriel Chacón and Luis Ramírez.
• EHS: What about your involvement in the European Hip Society, and the next International Congress in 2020 taking place in Lille, France?
As a member of the Scientific Committee of the European Hip Society, it is a true honor, pleasure and privilege to have been able to participate in the development of the scientific program of the next International meeting in the city of Lille, a geographical meeting point for many European countries, with truly ideal infrastructure to host such an event. I think it is essential to keep it in mind within the diary of each hip surgery specialist.
The program has been an enormous effort to provide all our colleagues from the whole of Europe and overseas with the best update we can have today in hip areas. We are all there to share knowledge and take home the best for our patients.
More information about Dr Manuel Ribas is available on the websites www.icatme.com or www.micadera.es, the latter written in Spanish, English and Italian version.