Hélder Pereira , Hospital da Luz orthopaedist, was elected president of the Portuguese Society of Arthroscopy and Sports Traumatology (SPAT), for the 2024/2026 biennium. The election took place during the 16 th National Congress of this institution, held on the 10 and 11 th October in Viana do Castelo. “It is with great honour and enthusiasm that I set out to represent the Portuguese Society of Arthroscopy and Sports Traumatology, together with this team”, stated the physician specialized in knee and ankle problems, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Created in 1994, SPAT arose from the need to establish a national agency dedicated to arthroscopy, which would be able to represent the country at international level. The main purpose is to contribute to disseminate this minimally invasive technique in Portugal. The new direction announced as main priority for this mandate “the promotion of strategies to prevent the most frequent injuries in sport”, with particular attention to the rising number of children and women practising competitive sports (given that the female population, for multifactorial reasons, has an increased risk, namely of knee injuries in the most widely practised modality of football)”. Hélder Pereira succeeds Alcindo Silva , in the position, also orthopaedist at Hospital da Luz.
