HISTORY OF THE SUNDERLAND SOCIETY FOR INTERNATIONAL PERIPHERAL NERVE STUDY

by David G Kline MD

In the beginning, management of surgical nerve lesions were a part, albeit small, of broader meetings of general surgical, orthopedic, plastic, sometimes neurosurgical and even less frequently neurology meetings. The inception of what is now known as the Sunderland Society dedicated to the study and promulgation of the basic and clinical science of surgical nerve lesions can fairly, I believe, be laid at the feet and more importantly the intellects of two men, Morton Spinner MD and George Omer MD, Msc., orthopedic surgeons, who also had interest and background in hand surgery. Both men had experience with nerve injuries in the Army Medical Corps during the Korean conflict and Omer had remained in the Army Medical Corps for a number of years thereafter. At the time in the late 1970's, they envisioned a Study Club for Surgical Nerve Lesions, Spinner had a vibrant practice in Hand Surgery in Brooklyn, New York, and was a Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine also in New York, while Omer was Professor and Chair of Orthopedics and Chief of Hand Surgery at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque.

From 1977 to 1980, Omer and Spinner worked on developing a book entitled “The Management of Peripheral Nerve Problems with multiple chapters” contributed by authors interested in nerve. In the second edition of this book published in 1998 (Omer G, Spinner M, Van Beek A, The Management of Peripheral Nerve Problems, 2nd Ed, Philadelphia, WB Saunders, 1998) there is a chapter written by George Omer entitled “Peripheral nerve injuries: 45-year odyssey … and the quest continues.” The following which addresses the founding of the Sunderland Society is quoted: “From 1977 to 1980, George Omer and Morton Spinner developed a book entitled “The Management of Peripheral Nerve Problems.” They discussed the concept of peripheral nerve study group with several colleagues, including J. Leonard Goldner and Raymond Curtis who were enthusiastic about the potential benefits for clinical practice.

In 1978, a group of surgeons interested in peripheral nerve pathology met at Duke University with J. Leonard Goldner as host. During this meeting a biannual program was discussed. A preliminary society was formed with Raymond Curtis, J. Leonard Goldner, David Kline, George Omer, and Morton Spinner as the founding senior members of this society (Goldner letter, 1995).

The concept was crystallized at the mid-year meeting of the ASSH in 1979, and The Peripheral Nerve Study Group was founded, with the purpose “to study in depth difficult problems and advances in peripheral nerve anatomy, physiology, and surgery.” Present for the meeting were Ray Curtis, Mike Jabaley, Joseph Kutz, George Omer, Morton Spinner, Jack Tupper, Jim Urbaniak and Shaw Wilgis. Leonard Goldner was absent but aware of the meeting. Morton Spinner was elected president and Shaw Wilgis served as secretary-treasurer.

The first formal program was held in New York City, in July 1980, with Morton Spinner as president. Sir Sydney Sunderland was a guest speaker (more on the scientific content of the program will follow). At this meeting David Kline was elected president and George Omer was president-elect; Morton Spinner became past-president and Shaw Wilgis continued as secretary-treasurer. This was the first executive committee. It was determined that the “annual meetings” would be held approximately 18 months apart. The membership quickly expanded to include several more members of the United States as well as members from Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and West Germany (at a somewhat later point in time, these individuals as well as the original senior founding members received a certificate designating them as founding members of the Society, then known as the Sunderland; also at this meeting I believe it was decided or understood that the host of each subsequent meeting would also serve as president of the Nerve Study Club and subsequent Sunderland Society). It became a forum for informal exchange of ideas and experiences in peripheral nerve problems.

In September 1980, David Kline proposed that the name of the group be changed because it was similar to The Neurologic (Neurology) Nerve Study Group which had met for a number of years (David Kline had attended several of their meetings both in New Orleans and at the Carville Hanson's Disease Center outside Baton Rouge as a guest of Professor Richard Paddison. The meetings were interesting but not surgically oriented). The proposal was discussed by the executive committee. As president of the ASSH from 1978 to 1979, George Omer had invited Sir Sydney Sunderland to be the Founders Lecturer at the annual meeting, and the members of the ASSH were aware of Sir Sydney's professional contributions. In January 1981 David Kline wrote all members: “Morton Spinner and the executive committee have suggested Sunderland Club as our new name.”

The second formal meeting was held in New Orleans in November 1981 with David Kline as president (more on the scientific program to follow). At the business meeting, the name of the group was changed from The Peripheral Nerve Study Group to the Sunderland Society.

The third meeting was held in Santa Fe in May 1983, with George Omer as president. There were 22 members from six countries as well as several guests in attendance. Sir Sydney was in attendance, with his wife Lady Gwen, and he subsequently attended every meeting until his death in 1993 (as did his wife for most but not all meetings).

Previous Meetings

1980 Glen Cove, NY  Morton Spinner

1981 New Orleans, LA  David Kline

1983 Santa Fe, NM  George Omer, Jr

1984 Baltimore, MD  Shaw Wilgis

1986 Vienna, Austria  Hanno Millesi

1988 Durham, NC  Leonard Goldner

1990 Louisville, KY  Joseph Kutz

1992 Malmo, Sweden  Goran Lundborg

1993 Seattle, WA  Edward Almquist

1995 Zurich, Switzerland  Victor Meyer

1997 Vail, CO  Michael Jabaley

1999 London, England  James Urbaniak

2001 San Diego, CA  Richard Braun

2002 Baltimore, MD  Thomas Brushart

2004 Toronto, Canada  Rajiv Midha

2007 Manchester, England DA (Gus) McGrouther

2008 Rochester, MN  Robert Spinner

2009 Shanghai, China  Long-en Chen

2011 New York, NY  David Chiu

2013 Leiden, Holland  Martijn Malessy

2015 Ann Arbor, MI John McGillicuddy & Lynda Yang

2016 Frankfurt, Germany Kartik Krishnan & Thomas Kretschmer

2018 Stanford, CA  Michel Kliot

2019 Jerusalem, Israel Shimon Rochkind

2023 Banff, Alberta, Canada  Howard Clarke