25th Annual Conference 2025 of the Society for Paediatric Sports Medicine

The 25th Annual Conference of the Society for Paediatric Sports Medicine

(www.kindersportmedizin.org) took place in Luxembourg from the 14th to the 16th of March,

2025. More than 80 participants came to the Museum of Contemporary Art, MUDAM, in

Luxembourg to celebrate the 25th anniversary.

The conference president Tobias Stadtfeld, paediatrician and sports physician in Luxembourg,

put together a compelling and top-class programme featuring 30 lectures and two hands-on

workshops on the topic of ‘Young athletes’, made possible in part by the support of LIROMS.

The conference was jointly opened by the Luxembourg Minister of Health and Social Security,

Martine Deprez, and the Luxembourg Minister of Sport, Georges Mischo.

The topic of the first day was ethics and psychology as well as safeguarding in child and youth

sport. National and international concepts in the field of child protection in sport were presented

and discussed, followed by an explanation of the topic of nutritional supplements and doping

prevention.

The second day begun with a practical workshop on fracture sonography in growing children.

The programme continued with two sessions organised by the GOTS Paediatric Sports

Orthopaedics Committee, including two LIROMS members, Prof. Romain Seil and Dr

Christian Nührenbörger, as well as their colleagues Dr Felix Hoffmann and Dr José Azzolin

from the CHL Sports Clinic in Luxembourg. The first session provided an update on sports

orthopaedic pathologies of the knee joint in children and adolescents. The second GOTS session

opened with a presentation on the prevention of sports injuries in young athletes and proceeded

with updates on the treatment of concussions and special sports orthopaedic cases in children.

On Saturday afternoon, the focus shifted to sports science contributions from the fields of

cycling and endurance sports. The day concluded with a keynote lecture by Prof. Helge

Hebestreit on the 25-year history of the Society for Paediatric Sports Medicine.

The third and final day of the conference began actively with a workshop on return-to-

competition after anterior cruciate ligament injury, led by physiotherapists Nina Goedert and

Ben Moes from Luxembourg. The second session on sports science focused on key topics

including overtraining, dealing with heat, and the psychiatric aspects of adolescence.

To conclude the 25th annual conference, representatives of the DGPK's paediatric sports

cardiology working group presented fascinating insights into the physiological reactions of

children with heart defects at altitude and underwater.

In line with the motto ‘25 years of Society for Paediatric Sports Medicine - 25 years of a moving

future’, all participants were able to enjoy an engaging and inspiring weekend in the

extraordinary atmosphere of the MUDAM. The event fostered many open and appreciative

discussions and provided valuable opportunities to build networks for the coming years - amongattendees, LIROMS, the GOTS Pediatric Sports Orthopaedics Committee, and the Society for

Paediatric Sports Medicine alike.

Text: Dr Christian Nührenbörger

Photos: Tobias Stadtfeld