Congress
Presidential Lecture by Prof. Dr. Olivier Verborgt at the SECEC congress in Barcelona
From 2 to 4 September 2026, Barcelona hosted the annual congress of SECEC, the European society for shoulder and elbow surgery.
The Presidential Lecture
Prof. Dr. Olivier Verborgt, shoulder surgeon at ORTHOCA and affiliated with Antwerp University Hospital, was invited to deliver the Presidential Lecture — traditionally one of the congress highlights. Speaking to an audience of over a thousand delegates, he presented How to Improve Outcomes and Avoid Complications in Shoulder Arthroplasty: Present and Future.
He addressed the factors that determine the outcome of an anatomical or reverse shoulder replacement, the complications that can be avoided through better planning and technique, and the role technology plays in this: preoperative 3D planning, implant selection and objective outcome tracking.
A Belgian presidency
The invitation came from Prof. Dr. Roger van RietOpens in a new tab, elbow specialist at ORTHOCA, who chaired SECEC over the past term. At this edition he handed the presidency over to Prof. Dr. Markus Scheibel.
The team in Barcelona
ORTHOCA was represented by Prof. Dr. Olivier Verborgt, Dr. Geert Declercq, Dr. Alexander Vervaecke and Dr. Maxim Vanderstappen. Our fellow Dr. Nick Ideler and resident Dr. Willem Geuskens presented their own work. Dr. Nick Jansen stayed in Antwerp to cover the on-call service.