It is with great pleasure and excitement that we bring you a selection of peer-reviewed scientific articles from the Eighth Symposium on Joint Preserving and Minimally Invasive Surgery of the Hip, held in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in June 2010 (Fig. 1). This meeting was first held in 2001 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, bringing together the fields of joint preservation and replacement. Although some of the surgical solutions were not practiced by all of the speakers, the common goals of restoring function and treating the hip as a "whole" organ were shared by all. More importantly, throughout the years and various locations (Montreal in 2003, 2004, and 2008; Los Angeles in 2005 and 2007; Ottawa in 2006 and 2010; and New York in 2011), its international core faculty has demonstrated a dedication that is greatly appreciated. The exchange of ideas as well as debates have provided a better understanding to all of how to best maximize function and quality of life for patients suffering from hip disease.
This supplemental issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery covers our understanding of the function of the hip and how we can preserve and minimize hip deterioration by more sensitive investigations and proper understanding of hip biomechanics. This in turn permits the development of surgical techniques to correct osseous abnormalities and intra-articular cartilage damage to restore a painless and mobile hip, although this goal is sometimes difficult to attain. Although metal-on-metal bearings and hip resurfacings are currently being questioned as justifiable treatment options for hip arthritis, it is only by reviewing the clinical results at mid-term to long-term follow-up and integrating our understanding of their failures and successes that orthopaedic surgery will progress. Certainly, the following quote from Sir William Osler is as relevant today as it was during his lifetime: "The philosophies of one age have become the absurdities of the next, and the foolishness of yesterday has become the wisdom of tomorrow."
The faculty of the Eighth Symposium on Joint Preserving and Minimally Invasive Surgery of the Hip.