It is with great honor and much humility to be given this award by those who are to me the shoulders that I have stood on. I am accepting this generous gift on behalf of all the people who have suffered and are suffering with intractable chronic sacroiliac joint pain. My journey has been difficult, but no different than all of yours, except the actual surgical part and working with these patients in the clinic is over, but yours is not. I intend to remain involved in this effort we have all given a significant portion of ourselves to, and look forward to SIMEG becoming the driving force for the much needed change in how this condition is understood and treated. Our current knowledge base on this joint is in its nativity and positive future growth will depend on open minds, excellent research, and always putting the patient first, ahead of all else. Thank you for choosing me to be the one to begin this lifetime legacy for SIMEG.
Bruce Dall, M.D.
Read more about Dr. Dall's insights on SIJ pain and treatment
Lifetime Achievement Recognition of Bruce Dall, M.D.
Once the herniated lumbar disc was discovered as a major source of buttock and leg pain often referred to as sciatica, the SIJ was essentially ignored by surgeons. However many patients still suffered from a similar presentation of pain often refered to as pseudosciatica originating from a pathologic SI joint. These often disabled patients were not adequately considered for surgical treatment when they failed conservative treatment by non surgeon colleagues including chiropractors, physical therapists, physical medicine physicians and related non operative pain specialists.
Appropriate attempts to diagnose and surgically treat SIJ pain has only gained attention by the mainstream surgical community over the past decade other than a brief period of time about a century ago by notable pioneers including Dr. Marius Smith-Peterson. Prior to the recent rediscovery, only a handful of mostly orthopedic surgeons dared to advocate for these SIJ patients including but not limited to my local orthopedic colleagues in Colorado Michael Moore, Jeff Kleiner, Ken Kurica; John Stark and David Polly in Minnesota as well as Allen Lippitt in South Carolina and Arnold Graham Smith in Florida. European pioneering started with the educational “SI-Update summits” back in 2010 by Michael Dierks, Dr. John Stark and Dr. Volker Fuchs which led to the founding of SIMEG.
We sincerely appreciate all the efforts these and others have provided to advancing the understanding and surgical solutions for this condition. The SIMEG Board of Directors wish to recognize all of those who contributed but also feel it is appropriate to identify key individuals who dedicated not only a significant part of their medical career to this effort but also after retirement from medical practice.
Thank you Bruce for all you have done in your lifetime to educate us, your peers and patients, influence surigical training programs to teach medical students and residents about the clinical significance of the SI joint joint but mostly for your unwavering commitment to representing and advocating for patients suffering from SI joint pain.
Jeff Donner MD, Immediate Past President of SIMEG