A Founding Vision

Professor Wael Mansour Fahmy is widely regarded as the godfather of hand surgery in Egypt. After advanced training under Guy Pulvertaft in the United Kingdom, he returned home determined to establish hand surgery as a distinct specialty — and to build around it a culture of education, innovation and scientific collaboration.

He established a replantation laboratory at the Maadi Military Academy in 1970, followed in 1979 by one of Egypt’s first microsurgery laboratories. Both opened new ground for reconstructive and microsurgical practice, and trained the surgeons who would carry the field forward.

His influence extended well beyond Egypt. He founded the Eastern Mediterranean Hand Society, later a member of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand, and established Egypt’s annual hand surgery journal, The Hand. In 1998 the IFSSH recognised him as a Pioneer of Hand Surgery.

One ambition remained: a national society uniting every Egyptian surgeon committed to the hand.

From Vision to Institution

That ambition gained momentum in 1997, when Professor Nash Naam visited Egypt. Working with Professor Ismael Salam, then Minister of Health, he helped establish a specialised Hand Surgery Unit at El Helal Hospital in Cairo — conceived as a comprehensive centre bringing together hand surgeons, hand therapists and specially trained nursing staff.

Professor Naam returned every year thereafter, encouraging orthopaedic and plastic surgeons across the country to unite behind the founding vision.

The decisive step came at the Egyptian Orthopaedic Association Conference in 2006, where the formal process of establishing the Society began. Through the sustained work of Professor Yehia Bassiouny, the legal and administrative requirements were completed.

In September 2007, the Egyptian Society for Surgery of the Hand and Microsurgery was officially established.

The First Congress

Months later the Society convened its first major scientific meeting: the First Cairo International Hand Surgery Conference, held 24–27 March 2008. It drew distinguished faculty from around the world, including leading members of the American Association for Hand Surgery — among them Brian Adams, Peter Amadio, Mark Baratz, Allen Bishop, Richard Brown, Scott Kozin, Nash Naam, Mike Neumeister, Chris Novak, Ron Palmer and Jaiyoung Ryu.

Education as a Defining Mission

Education became central to the Society’s identity. Microsurgery training courses led by Professor Sobhi Hewidii and Professor Tarek Elgammal trained successive generations of Egyptian surgeons and established the country’s microsurgical capability.

International Standing

ESSHM is a member of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH) and the Pan African Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (PAFSSH), and an affiliated society of the European Federation for Microsurgery (EFM) and the Federation of European Societies for Surgery of the Hand (FESSH).

Two Decades of Work

The Society has convened twenty annual congresses alongside instructional courses, microsurgery workshops, cadaveric training programmes and collaborative meetings with national and international societies. Through initiatives such as the Nash Naam Award, it continues to recognise excellence among younger surgeons.

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What began as one pioneer’s ambition is now a scientific community with national reach and international standing. The next chapter is already being written.