[Technical orthopedics. Importance in an increasingly operatively oriented faculty]

The foundation of the German Society for Orthopedics in 1901 was due to a separation from the faculty of surgery because a surgical approach alone did not adequately deal with the symptoms. Orthopedists were initially considered as a fringe group. The conservative treatment approach was initially at the forefront and operative measures were a side line. The main aim was the rehabilitation of patients into a normal life as best as possible. In the conservative area treatment with orthopedic technical aids and appliances rapidly came to play an important role and a great multitude of technical appliances were developed with sometimes very different possible applications. Despite the clearly improved operative treatment approaches in orthopedics and trauma surgery, technical orthopedics still plays a substantial role even today. Healing and supportive aids and appliances are of decisive importance for the treatment of a multitude of diseases and handicaps. They stabilize and improve operative treatment results and often result in new approaches. This depends on cooperation between technicians, therapists and physicians in a team, even in the scientific field. Evidence-based studies on the effectiveness of technical aids are currently still uncommon but recently some clear evidence for effectiveness could be shown. Scientifically this is a very varied field of work. The demographic development presents new requirements which must be dealt with. Technical solutions are often very promising especially in this field. Technical orthopedics remains an important component of the specialty of orthopedics and trauma surgery and with an increasing tendency due to more recent research and development.