Page Four P H Y S I O T H E R A P Y January, 1951

MODERN ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY & REHABILITATION

ECENTLY SIR REGINALD WATSON-JONES has 
been on a lecture tour o f the Union and I was 

privileged to hear his a'ddress to the local branch of 
the S.A. Medical Association. The meeting was very 
well attended and most of the doctors listened spell­
bound. In fact the Chairman specifically m entioned this 
when he thanked Sir Reginald.

I can on ly give the gist of the address which showed 
how  orthopaedic surgery had im proved in the last fifty 
years, aided by the use of anti-biotics to control sepsis 
as never before possible. The slides shown as illustra­
tions o f w hat Sir Reginald had done during the r e c e n t . 
W ar were almost incredible; results after Air crashes 
and forced landings; a landing without a parachute and 
the man lived to tell the tale and go back “ on ops" 
in tw o years. One man with nineteen fractures all of 
which were satisfactorily dealt with and the man able 
to be a useful citizen afterwards. Sir Reginald also 
m entioned that in his experience early m ovem ents of 
of the fractured bone was definitely NOT permissible. 
But that unaffected limbs should not be allowed to 
waste from  inactivity, thus making the task o f re­
habilitation longer than necessary.

The final slide showed a num ber o f men in Spinal 
plaster jackets playing netball, and the lecturer said,

GENERAL NEWS
Letter to The General Secretary from  the Provisional 

Committee for the W orld Confederation for Physical 
Therapy.
Dear Miss Oosthuizen,

Y ou will recall that, in m y letter o f 17th May, 1950, 
I inform ed you that a Constitution had been drafted 
at the Paris Meeting of the Provisional Com mittee for 
a W orld Confederation for Physical Therapy. The legal 
w ork on the draft has not yet been com pleted but it is 
hoped that this will be done before long. Meanwhile 
the Provisional Com mittee feel that arrangements 
should proceed for an Inaugural Meeting o f the W orld 
Confederation for Physical Therapy to be held in 
September, 1951.

Fortunately, the Second International Poliomyelitis 
Conference is being held in Copenhagen from 3rd to 
the 7th September and the International Council for 

-the Care o f  Cripples Meeting is being held in Stockholm 
from 8th to  the 13th September. It is understood that 
governm ents of various countries will be sending re­
presentatives. It is hoped that by interspersing between 
these tw o meetings the Inaugural Meeting of the W orld 
Confederation for Physical Therapy, a large num ber of 
Physical Therapists from  all over the world will be able 
to be present. The Provisional Com mittee have there­
fore decided them selves to m eet in Copenhagen on 
Friday, 7th September, and to hold the Inaugural 
Meeting o f the W orld Confederation for Physical 
Therapy on Saturday, 8th September. It is hoped that 
besides these tw o business meetings there will be time 
for som e social activities so that the Physical Therapists 
from  the various countries may have the opportunity 
of getting to know  each other. It is also hoped that 
there will be a dem onstration of Physical Therapy, and 
that there will be space for exhibits in the way of 
posters or models from  all the countries represented at 
the Inaugural Meeting.

"you  will particularly notice that these m en look 
happy. I m ust stress the great im portance of aftercare 
in these cases. Don’t be content to  do just the necessary 
surgery and leave it at that; Y ou must follow  up, not 
regarding the case as out o f your care until the patient 
is as norm al as possible.”  He then emphasised the 
necessity for co-operation between the surgeon, physio­
therapist and occupational therapist AS A  TEAM in 
rehabilitation of the injured.

A s a physiotherapist I was particularly glad to hear 
this com ing from  such an im portant source. It is often 
the case that doctors d o not follow  up soon enough 
(if at all) and thus deform ities occur which might 
easily have been obviated if only the patient had been 
sent for physiotherapy sooner. W h o o f us does not know ! 
of, say, a colles fracture left in plaster for weeks and 
weeks during which time every join t in the whole a n n «  
becomes stiff from  lack o f u se ?  The patient is afraid tow 
m ove anything in that arm and it becom es “ a spare i 
part”  —  the whole thing not just the fracture neces­
sarily immobilised by a plaster so that union m ay be 
established. It is to be hoped that the advice given by 
Sir Reginald W atson Jones will not fall on deaf ears.

Sent by B. J. Gordon, A ddington Hospital, Durban, i

The Provisional Committee feel sure that your Asso­
ciation will agree that the form ation o f a W orld Con­
federation for Physical Therapy is o f great importance 
and will wish to appoint an official delegate to the 
Inaugural Meeting, and that individual m em bers of 
your Association will wish to  attend as observers. Yon 
are therefore asked to  give the widest publicity to  the 
inauguration of the W orld Confederation in the Journal 
of your Association, or by any other means you have 
o f reaching your members, so that the m eeting m ay be 
made known. The Inaugural Meeting of the W orld Con­
federation will be listed on the programmes of the 
Poliomyelitis Conference in Copenhagen and of the 
Cripples Conference in Stockholm : furthermore, 
Physical Therapists attending the W orld Confederation 
Meeting in Copenhagen will also be invited to  the 
Poliomyelitis Conference. 4 ,

Miss Elson, the Chairman of the Provisional Com- 
m ittee of the W ord Confederation for Physical Therapy, 
has m et in New Y ork the organisers of the Polio­
myelitis Conference and they have kindly agreed to 
let us use their services in arranging accommodation, 
n ot only for our meetings but also for Physical 
Therapists’ wishing to stay in Copenhagen. |j

The Inaugural Meeting of the W orld Confederation*! 
will be held at the Hotel Angleterre (the headquarters 
of the Poliomyelitis Conference) and the Housing Com­
m ittee in Denmark will arrange accom m odation. Fur­
ther details regarding accom m odation will be sent to 
you later. t

It is hoped that you will bring all these matters to 
the. early attention of the mem bers of your Associa­
tion so that there will be a good attendance of both 
delegates and observers at the Inaugural Meeting of 
the W orld Confederation.

Yours sincerely,
M. J. NEILSON, 

Convenor, Provisional Committee for 
International Collaboration in Physiotherapy’

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