SIMEG - sacroiliac medical expert group

History

The Beginning

2009

At the German Spine Conference in Munich in 2009 during an industrial workshop, an SIJ surgical procedure was introduced which was completely unknown until that date. Dr. John Stark, Minneapolis, USA rose great interest among the majority of the audience - among them the later founders of our association. The discussions about ‚Failed Back Surgery Syndrom‘, chronic low back pain, diagnosis of a painful degeneration of the SIJ, imaging, anatomy and treatment options including surgical methods was led from a different point of view.

Organized by the medical device manufacturer's project manager Michael Dierks (since then Administrative Manger of SIMEG), a medical tutor group was founded, who developed an educational concept. Surgery was not allowed by untrained surgeons. In combination with a multicentric observational study this served to control outcome quality of this new procedure. On annual user meetings promotors and offenders of SIJ surgery were invited to speak and discuss these new concepts.

The presentations of international acknowledged experts in diagnosis, biomechanics, manual and surgical therapy (e.g. Prof. A. Vleeming, Dr. Mark Laslett, Prof. M. Amling, Dr. J. Stark, Dr. T. Kibsgard) revealed the relatively poor knwoledge about this underserved field. Increasing reports about revision cases, uncertainty about the surgical technique, development and introduction of several new SIJ fusion systems led to propose the founding of an international expert society allowing independent research. Finally the user group decided to establish this society, which was realized in September 2013 under the name 'Sacroiliac Medical Expert Group (SIMEG)'.

We thank SIGNUS GmbH for their initial support during the development of our association until it was officially registered as a non for profit association, in order to avoid any future conflict of interest and enable SIMEG to independently follow their scientific targets.

2014 - Creating an SIJ community

In December 2014 SIMEG was introduced during the annual meeting of the German Spine Society. The breakfast symposium attracted more than 100 attendants and confirmed the demand for dedicated and  independant SIJ-discussion.

The first international special conference on SIJ surgery 'ICSJS 2015' was held in September 2015, which lifted the number of members at that time up to 42. After the ICSJS 2016 with speakers and attendees from 11 nations worldwide we decided for the next meeting to be held in the USA. This meeting in Tampa, Fl. created even more awareness about the necessity of unbiased investigation of the sacroiliac joint.

2018 - US challenges

With this meeting, SIMEG was dominated by US related topics from 2018 until 2021.  Reembursement questions in the US market discussed among American members of our group  might have alienated our German and Euorpean surgeons in this period. At the end the necessity to discuss safety and efficiency of surgical procedures became more important and the educational webinars were initiated by the board.

2021 - Re-orientation

Under the presidency of Daisuke Kurosawa,  SIMEG addressed international audience with research and advice for their day to day challenges with SIJ pain patients. This orientation was backed up during the 10th anniversary meeting, an hybrid event at the residence of SIMEG's administration, in Wermelskirchen/Germany. It was there that the board decided for closer cooperation with other medical societies, pain doctors and SIJ pain communities. Initiated by Vicepresident Jeff Donner, Prof. Bruce Dall was awarded for his lifetime achievement for his research of the SIJ.

Webinars are installed covering distinct topics, such as safety, fusion or fixation, non invasive treatment. Dr. Kurosawa created the "paper of the month" idea, installed web topics such as "meet the experts", which might be developed into an SIJ fellowship program. 78 members are supporting the association.

Faculty of ICSJS (RR) 2023 in Wermelskirchen, Germany
Faculty of ICSJS (RR) 2023 in Wermelskirchen, Germany

Chronology

  • December 2009 - introduction of the distraction interference arthrodesis by J. Stark in Munich, supported by SIGNUS Medizintechnik GmbH
  • June 2010 – Founding of a user group and work out of a study design
  • April 2011 - 1st user meeting and 'SI-Update' summit at the SIGNUS training center
  • June 2011 – Starting of a multicenter observational study including 22 centers
  • Sept 2011 – user meeting and ‚2nd SI-Update Summit‘
  • Sept 2012 – 1st international user meeting and '3rd SI-Update summit' at the SIGNUS training center
  • Decision to establish the user group as independant medical association
  • Sept 2013 – 2nd international user meeting and '4th SI-Update summit'
  • Sept. 20th, 2013 – constitutional meeting and separating from SIGNUS sponsorship
  • Dec 2013 – Internet presentation of SIMEG
  • Jan. 20th, 2014 – acknowledged as non profit organization
  • Nov. 2014 – relaunch of the website
  • Nov. 5th, 2014 - the association is registered at the federal association register in Cologne, 11 members
  • Dec. 12th, 2014 – 1st symposium and public introduction of 'SIMEG' at the annual confence of the German Spine Society, 1st general members meeting, 22 members
  • Sept. 18th - 19th, 2015 - 1st international conference on sacroiliac joint surgical treatment (ICSJS) in Hamburg, Germany, 42 members, re-election of the board members and president
  • Sept. 15th - 17th, 2016 - 2nd international conference on sacroiliac joint surgical treatment (ICSJS) in Hamburg, Germany, 49 members
  • June 2017 - re-election of the treasurer, decision for ICSJS 2018 to be held in Tampa, Florida, USA
  • Feb 2018 - 3rd international conference on sacroiliac joint surgical treatment (ICSJS)ICSJS 2018 in Tampa, Fl.
  • Re-election of the board
  • Sept 2018 - Decision to cooperate with ISASS for a satellite symposium at ISASS19
  • Nov 2018 - Decision to cooperate for a one day symposium at the World Conference on Pelvic and Low Back Pain, Antwerp; Belgium
  • March 2019 - ISASS19 Symposium was cancelled due to lack of participants, decision and start of organization for the ICSJS 2020 in Hamburg/Germany
  • Nov 2019 - one day symposium at the World Conference on Pelvic and Low Back Pain, Antwerp; Belgium, decision to hold a 3 hours symposium at ISASS20 in Puerto Rico, Feb. 2020.
  • Nov 2019 - registration open for ICSJS 2020 and call for papers
  • Feb 2020 - ICSJS 2020 cancelled due to CoVid19 pandemic
  • Sep 2020 - start of the SIMEG educational webinar series
  • Jan 2021 - Annual meeting, re-election and extension of the board to 9 board members. President elect: Jeff Donner
  • Feb 2022 - First online members meeting, beta-test of ISAR arthrodesis registry
  • Oct 2022 - Safety Symposium
  • Nov 2022 - Annual members meeting, board election. President elect: Daisuke Kurosawa
  • Nov 2022 - "Fusion vs Fixation" Debate (Polly/Freeman(
  • Apr 2023 - Webinar "Treatments for SIJ Pain BEFORE considering surgery"
  • SEP 2023 - ICSJS RR 2023 and annual meeting, 10th anniversary in Wermelskirchen (Hybrid event)
  • Nov 2023 - Webinar "SIJ Dysfunction in Athlets"
  • SEP 2024 - ICSJS RR 2024 and annual meeting in Graz/Austria. President elect: William Cross