The Stanford Orthopaedic Trauma Symposium takes place from 28 to 30 August 2026 at Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel Valley, California. Organised by Stanford Medicine, the meeting is built around the difficult decisions encountered in everyday orthopaedic trauma practice, particularly when surgeons are managing acute injuries and complex fractures on call.
The 2026 programme follows a strongly case-based format combining focused lectures, debates, case presentations and interactive discussions. It begins with on-call dilemmas and open fractures before moving through trauma by anatomical region. Dedicated sessions address upper-extremity injuries; pelvis, hip and proximal femur fractures; distal femur and proximal tibia fractures; and distal tibia and ankle trauma. Polytrauma is considered separately, with attention to timing and early treatment priorities, while another session examines the particular challenges of periprosthetic fractures.
The course is designed to connect current evidence with practical clinical decision-making. Learning objectives include recognising and managing high-stakes problems such as compartment syndrome, open fractures and infection, developing treatment strategies across common extremity fractures, and applying evidence and clinical guidance to geriatric fracture care. The final morning is centred on case discussions, including sessions organised by anatomical region, allowing participants to work through treatment choices with experienced trauma faculty.
The symposium is particularly relevant to orthopaedic surgeons who regularly take trauma call and need to make decisions across a wide range of injuries rather than within a single anatomical subspecialty. Its focus on open fractures, polytrauma, periprosthetic fractures, complex periarticular injuries and evidence-based fracture management makes the 2026 meeting directly relevant to contemporary orthopaedic trauma practice.