Participation in the 2024 KSES – JES Travelling Fellowship program

Visiting Report
Nice to meet you. My name is Satoshi Miyamura from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Osaka University. I am pleased to report that I was selected as the first Korean Shoulder and Elbow Society (KSES)-Japan Elbow Society (JES) Traveling Fellow along with Dr. Takuya Uemura from Osaka General Hospital of West Japan Railway Company. We visited Korea for about two weeks from March 17th to March 31st. During this visit, with the support of both societies, we toured YESON Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, Pohang Semyeong Christianity Hospital, and Asan Medical Center, and finally had the opportunity to present at the KSES annual meeting. In my report, I would like to focus on the visits to the first two hospitals.

YESON Hospital
First of all, we received a warm welcome with our posters displayed throughout the hospital and even scrubs prepared with our names on them. What particularly impressed me was the clear division of labor, with dedicated surgical nurses and cast specialists, which allowed doctors to focus on surgery and outpatient duties. Despite the large number of surgical cases, I was deeply impressed by the precision and speed of the surgical techniques, especially during the surgery for Volkmann's contracture following a Monteggia fracture. The operating surgeon mentioned that such cases were extremely rare in his 30-year career (it was my first time seeing one), yet he handled the soft tissue with exacting accuracy and confidence. At the end of our visit, we were also invited to a small symposium with an external speaker, where Dr. Uemura and I had the opportunity to give presentations.

Samsung Medical Center
Our next destination was Samsung Medical Center. Despite the challenging situation due to the strike, several elbow arthroscopy surgeries were prepared for us to observe. During the arthroscopic surgeries for tennis elbow and elbow osteoarthritis (OA), they demonstrated minimally invasive and smooth techniques that took pain mechanisms into account. Additionally, Prof. Park gave a lecture on treatment approaches for revision total elbow arthroplasty (TEA) and discussed topics such as stiff elbow OA versus post-trauma conditions. This led to heated discussions about the complexities of treating difficult elbow joint diseases. What particularly struck me was the difference in the perception of allografts between Japan and Korea. In Japan, the hurdles for using allografts are very high due to the necessary equipment and complicated procedures. In Korea, however, they are commonly used when there is a shortage of transplant bone, which gave me the impression of more advanced practices.

This visit to Korea allowed me to make many friends. Everyone we met was full of hospitality and very friendly. As this was the first Traveling Fellowship, I hope to continue this relationship and fulfill my responsibilities as a bridge connecting the KSES and the JES. I deeply appreciate the support from the international committees of both countries, the members of KSES and JES, and my family who warmly sent me off.

Pohang Semyeong Christianity Hospital
Nice to meet you, I'm Takuya Uemura. I will now continue writing a visit report. Over the weekend, we traveled to Pohang by KTX to visit Pohang Semyeong Christianity Hospital. Despite it being the weekend, the doctors at Semyeong Christianity Hospital kindly took us on a sightseeing tour and treated us to a wonderful dinner. We were impressed by their hospitality. In particular, the visit to Daereungwon Tomb Complex in Gyeongju and Homigot Cape at the easternmost point of Korea, guided by Prof. Ji-Ho Lee, became a wonderful memory. As hand and elbow surgeons, Dr. Miyamura and I were delighted to see the hand sculptures. We observed many elbow surgeries, including several open surgeries for lateral and medial epicondylitis. We also learned a lot about Prof. In-Hyeok Rhyou’s method of LCL reconstruction. Thanks to this visit, we feel closer to Pohang!

Asan Medical Center
We returned to Seoul and visited Asan Medical Center. I was surprised by the large scale of the hospital and the presence of an international medical center, as there are no hospitals in Japan as large as Asan Medical Center. We observed surgeries performed by Prof. In-Ho Jeon, including arthroscopic release of elbow contracture and revision of radial head replacement. The elbow arthroscopy proceeded smoothly with precise points of release despite the severe case. The revision case of the radial head replacement was my first, and I was able to learn a lot from the many pitfalls. On the final day, some PhD students of Prof. In-Ho Jeon and we conducted a lecture with a useful discussion.

2024 KSES congress
At the president's banquet, we had the pleasure of dining with many legendary doctors from Korea. It was a great opportunity to reaffirm the strong relationship between senior members from Korea and Japan. At the congress, I presented on a topic titled 'Revision Surgery for Recurrent Cubital Tunnel Syndrome,' while Dr. Miyamura presented on a topic titled 'Advances in Computer-Aided Surgery for the Elbow Joint.

Finally, during the visits to these hospitals, despite the strike issues with resident doctors, we were able to observe valuable educational cases of elbow joint surgeries. We were delighted by the hospitality of the Korean professors, who not only emphasized hospital tours and surgery observations but also deepening relationships. We believe that the first KSES-JES Traveling Fellowship was a great success. We hope to continue this friendly relationship between both countries and pass on the experience to our junior doctors. Lastly, we would like to express our deep gratitude to the international committee chairs of both countries who established this Traveling Fellowship, and to Prof. Myung-Seo Kim for organizing such a wonderful itinerary. Next, let's meet at the JES congress meeting in March 2025!

Satoshi Miyamura, MD
Osaka University, Graduate School of Medicine, Japan

Takuya Uemura, MD
Osaka General Hospital of West Japan Railway Company, Japan