Autor: Piotr Jacek Biliński

While we are proud that the roots of orthopaedics lie in Europe, it was in America that the oldest orthopaedic society was founded. It was the American Orthopaedic Association, established in 1887. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) was founded later. One can but admire the economic and intellectual potential of the American nation.

The history of orthopaedics extends beyond the recent history that several generations of today’s orthopaedists can relate to. It is a history of musculoskeletal disease that dates back to the dinosaurs, prehistoric times and ancient Egypt. And it is in ancient Egypt that the predecessors of orthopaedists first treated the builders of the pyramids for their injuries, being perhaps the forerunners of present-day worker compensation systems.