Sacroiliac joint dysfunction has been neglected as a source of pain and even more as a surgical level indication since years. The development of new diagnostic tools, technologies and materials revealed the need to have a closer look at this unique joint from the surgical point of view. Pioneering this topic, SIMEG members are primarily dedicated to avoiding surgery - but once the diagnosis is confirmed, we should be able to offer our patients the adequate treatment they need. In the course of three successful international conferences in Germany and the USA, many questions were answered, but even more are still unsolved.

The question "Is SIJ-fusion a must-have tool in the arsenal of a spinal surgeon?" was pro- and con debated by Prof. Bernhard Meyer from Munich, Germany and Jeff Donner, MD, at the ICSJS 2016 in Hamburg, Germany. This year we are proud to welcome again internationally well-renowned speakers like William Cross, Sonia Eden, Joseph Fortin, David Polly - just to mention a few. Furthermore, we are looking forward to Steve Garfin's talk on "Spine surgeons neglected the SIJ as a treatable pain generator for so many decades - what changed my mind!?"

SIMEG is building up work groups to find answers and to start educating the SIJ surgical topic unbiased - which also means until now unfunded. While working on those topics by dedicated SIMEG members, we are happy to introduce ourselves and to offer a discussion with spinal surgeons during our satellite symposium on the day before the ISASS19 in Anaheim, California, starts.

ISASS19 Banner
Anaheim has German roots, and so has SIMEG (founded in Germany in 2013). The city was founded in 1857 by 50 German-Americans who were residents of San Francisco and whose families had originated in Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria. Anaheim’s name is a blend of Ana, after the nearby Santa Ana River, and German -heim meaning “home”. Today Anaheim is a flourishing destination not just because of the Disneyland theme park with over 650 million visitors since its opening but also because of a lot of other attractions like the Convention Center, the Muzeo, the City National Grove, the GardenWalk and the Hills Golf Course just to mention a few of them.

We thank the ISASS board, especially president Marek Szpalski for this opportunity and we invite you to experience and support the transmission of knowledge among spinal and sacroiliac joint expert surgeons.

Thomas Freeman, MD
Professor
Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair
Medical Director Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair
University of South Florida
SIMEG President

For more info and to register: https://www.simeg-international.com/events/upcoming-events/icsjs-2019-isass19.html

The SIMEG satellite symposium is co-organized in cooperation with ISASS. We thank Nikki Golden for the support and the opportunity to join the ISASS hotel reservation.
ISASS has a hotel room block at the Hilton Anaheim which you may use until March 9th, 2019. Make reservations early, as room types requested are not guaranteed. Please do not contact the hotel directly as all accommodations must be made online through the ISASS website http://www.softwareontap.net/isass19/ to be included as part of the ISASS group housing for the discounted rate.