CourseThe 36th Annual Baltimore Limb Deformity Course takes place from 19 to 23 August 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. The programme brings together an international faculty for advanced education in limb reconstruction, deformity correction, external fixation and limb lengthening, combining a three-day main course with optional cadaveric pre- and post-courses.
The main Baltimore Limb Deformity Course, held from 20 to 22 August at the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore, covers both basic and advanced principles of lower-limb alignment and reconstruction. Topics include tibial and femoral deformities, rotational and multiplanar deformity, corrective osteotomy, limb length discrepancy, acute correction and lengthening techniques, as well as monolateral and circular external fixation. Participants can follow adult orthopaedic, paediatric orthopaedic or foot-and-ankle tracks, with lectures complemented by case discussions and hands-on sawbone laboratories.
For surgeons interested in complex reconstruction after trauma or bone loss, the optional practical courses add particularly relevant material. The 19 August Tibia and Below cadaver lab progresses from soft-tissue and minimally invasive techniques to bone transport and complex reconstructive frame techniques. One practical track examines cable transport for the management of bone defects, while another addresses circular external fixation for complex foot and ankle stabilisation. The same course also includes medial gastrocnemius flap preparation and other soft-tissue procedures relevant to limb salvage and reconstruction.
A separate pre-course examines osteotomies around the knee through lectures, planning exercises, sawbone work and cadaveric surgery. The programme concludes on 23 August with a Disaster Response cadaver course covering provisional skeletal stabilisation, soft-tissue procedures, amputations and rotational flap coverage in resource-limited trauma settings.
The 2026 main course is chaired by Philip McClure, with John Herzenberg as Chairman Emeritus. Course directors are Michael Assayag, Janet Conway, Connor Green and Noman Siddiqui. The Baltimore course has a substantial international reach: the organisers report that the 2024 edition attracted more than 220 clinicians from 34 countries outside the United States and 31 US states.
For surgeons working in complex lower-extremity reconstruction, the course provides a practical bridge between deformity correction and the techniques used to address difficult post-traumatic problems, including bone defects, limb-length discrepancy, soft-tissue compromise and the use of external fixation and bone transport.