PROGRAMME PREVIEW

Share Your Own Case? Present a treatment case that took an unexpected turn – and help others learn from it!

The Disaster Conference is looking for real cases from orthotics, prosthetics and wheelchair provisionthat challenge conventional thinking and inspire new perspectives.

Submit your case now until 30 August 2025 to: congress@ot-world.com

Take-Home Message:

“It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure," said Bill Gates.

With this in mind, experts in orthotics, prosthetics, and wheelchair provision present unsuccessful treatments in order to analyse them in the plenary session, discuss them, and work together to develop solutions. After all, pitfalls are everywhere.

Especially as a newcomer to the profession, you benefit from the experience of your colleagues - true to the motto: Learning from mistakes makes you wiser.

Take-Home Message:

What distinguishes different training programmes? How can they be improved? How can we implement a digital training report form? What might vocational training look like in the future? How far have we come—and what still needs to be done? As teachers, trainers, and especially trainees, participants will learn about practice-oriented approaches to excellence in vocational training that are already available today.

Take-Home Message:

Interdisciplinary collaboration is absolutely essential for the stage-appropriate treatment of diabetic foot syndrome (DFS). You will learn about modern concepts in prevention, diagnosis, and therapy that will assist you in practice. This includes new technologies in wound care and orthopaedic footwear technology, as well as best-practice examples and successful treatment approaches from leading treatment centres.

Take-Home Message:

The situation in Europe makes it necessary to address a potential crisis scenario and orthopaedic treatment and care for those affected by war. You will gain insights into the findings of colleagues and their approaches to solutions: current perspectives on acute treatment and the experiences of care teams will be presented, as well as the possibilities and limitations of rehabilitation and orthopaedic treatment.

Take-Home Message:

Those who rise to the challenge of providing competent and empathetic treatment to children within an interdisciplinary team are not only taking on medical responsibility, but also actively shaping lives. Through practical examples of treatment, you will discover how much can be achieved with specialist knowledge, creativity, and, most importantly, close collaboration between prosthetists and orthotists, medical staff, therapists, and families, all to ensure that children with impairments are given the best possible start towards a self-determined life.

Take-Home Message:

Digitalisation, artificial intelligence, and robotics will bring about change and open up new possibilities. You will gain insights into various projects and learn where and how new technologies are already being practically applied in rehabilitation. Opposing this progress are traditional processes, procedures, laws and regulations. Where are the limits, and how can we successfully develop these new opportunities together?

Take-Home Message:

You will gain insight into the interdisciplinary treatment process following a brachial plexus palsy—from possible surgery through rehabilitation and occupational therapy to the treatment with a myoelectric orthosis.

Take-Home Message:

The use of sensor-controlled or adaptive orthoses, up to high-tech applications, can enhance the quality of life for patients with spinal cord injury. The aim is to restore walking ability and improve stability. You will gain insight into the diverse possibilities of interdisciplinary treatment for the lower limb, as well as the high-tech solutions in rehabilitative medicine, along with the biomechanical principles that are essential to this.

Take-Home Message:

Arm prosthetics are undergoing a significant advancement with the introduction of Quality Standard 2.0 by the VQSA e.V. This updated version builds on the established system and features an improved structure, as well as revised and expanded content aimed at optimising patient treatment.

You will learn how to contribute to the goal of offering those affected improved functionality, enhanced comfort, and a better quality of life.

Take-Home Message:

When treating amputees, you will encounter different expectations. Often, the desire for functional reconstruction takes priority, but sometimes the primary focus is on cosmetic reconstruction. This is frequently linked to cultural and religious norms.

Access to reconstructive resources also influences decision-making. By exploring these different perspectives, you will learn how to respond to these expectations.

Take-Home Message:

Caught between modern liner systems and traditional total surface bearing sockets, it becomes clear: only a deep understanding of biomechanics and the residual limb conditions can ensure a long-term stable, comfortable, and mobility-enhancing prosthetic solution. While liners offer increased soft tissue protection and ease of use, a well-crafted total surface bearing socket often allows for more precise control and a greater sense of bodily awareness.

Take-Home Message:

Registers are systematic and transparent data collections in the healthcare sector.

Registers are intended to improve the quality of treatment, care, and rehabilitation. They enable transparency, traceability, and evidence-based decision-making. You will become familiar with various registers – such as the AMP Register Germany or the PraReg Register – and learn how to make use of them in your work.