The Beginning …
I am a orthopedic surgeon specialist in knee surgery and sports traumatology. Already at the end of my university studies I was sure that I wanted to dedicate myself to this field and I chose to carry out my specialist in orthopedics and traumatology at the University of Pavia, an Italian center with great fame in knee surgery thanks to the work carried out for 30 years by Professor Benazzo , an innovator in prosthetic surgery and a consultant for Inter for many years. During my specialty, I had the opportunity to learn the tricks of the Pavia school but also to meet and work with great colleagues such as Dr. Formagnana and Dr. Bargagliotti, who are still friends and valued colleagues who share my same passion for knee surgery. I specialized in Orthopedics with a grade of 110 with honors discussing a project of thesis on innovations in knee prosthetic surgery subsequently published in a major international journal.
Here I had the opportunity to refine my joint preservation surgical techniques and also to boost my academic career by starting a PhD in knee surgery at the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona. The third step of my improvement in knee surgery took place in Germany, precisely in Hannover, where I was able to specialize in the field of osteotomies and correction of bone deformities with Professor Lobenhoffer and Dr. Kristian Kley, both great innovators and world experts in these types of surgical techniques. Finally, the last stage of my training journey was in Portugal where I attended the clinic of Professor Espregueira-Mendes located inside the Estadio do Dragão in Porto. It is a FIFA center of excellence where sports traumatology is addressed from diagnosis to return to sport thanks to the latest technologies in this medical field.
Training in Europe
In 2015, I began my training abroad: the first stop was in Belgium where I was a fellow of Professor Johan Bellamans at the Ziekenhuis-Oost-Limburg Hospital, a renowned center for both advanced treatments in the field of sports traumatology and robotic surgery. It was a year dedicated not only to learning in the operating room, but also to experimenting with new surgical techniques on cadavers and to research in the orthopedic field. Thanks to the latter, I had the honor of receiving my first award from the Belgian Society of Traumatology for a scientific project. At the end of my fellowship in Belgium, I continued my training journey in Barcelona, as a fellow of Professor Juan Carlos Monllau at the Institut CAtalá de Traumatologia i Medicina de l’Esport (ICATME), a European reference center for meniscal and cartilage transplants.
The Academic Career
During my long training journey, I have had the pleasure of joining numerous scientific societies for knee surgery, both national and international. I am currently part of the Sports Traumatology Committee of SIAGASCOT (Italian Society of Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy), I am part of the knee surgery study group of AEA (Spanish Association of Arthroscopy) and the certification group for ligament reconstruction and meniscal surgery of ESSKA (European Society of Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy). Since 2019, I have been an Associate Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, conducting and directing various research projects that have led me to publish more than 50 scientific articles in international journals and to win 6 awards from various scientific societies. Thanks to the university and scientific societies, I have the opportunity to provide constant training for young surgeons from all over the world through cadaver labs where I can teach the latest surgical techniques in the field of knee surgery. Furthermore, for years I have been the director of our team’s fellowship program: every year more than 20 surgeons from around the world come to spend a period of several months in Barcelona to follow me in the operating room and train in knee surgery.
Locations
QSince 2017, my work activity has been carried out between Barcelona and “Italy”. In Barcelona, I work at the “Catalan Institute of Traumatology and Sports Medicine (ICATME) located in the hospital Quiron Dexeus where I mostly dedicate myself to sports traumatology, ligament reconstruction in pediatric patients, and meniscal and cartilage transplants. Additionally, since 2020, I have been working at the” Hospital del Mar where I carry out “intense surgical activity focused on osteoarthrosis and degenerative pathology, being able to use robotic technology for knee prosthesis procedures. In Italy, I conduct outpatient activities in Piacenza and surgical activities at the “Clinica La Fornaca di Sessant” (Turin) and “Clinica Saedes Sapientiae”. Overall, I perform more than 500 surgical interventions as the primary surgeon every year, ranging from prosthetic surgery to ligament surgery, including meniscus and cartilage transplants and osteotomies. I have had the” honor of being part of the “surgical team that performed the first tendon transplant from father to son in Europe, an operation carried out in Barcelona in 2016, and of leading the” surgical team that first performed the same type of transplant in Italy in Turin in 2022.
