Doctor Jacques Caton, founding member and Editor-in-Chief of SICOT-J, becomes a Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honour

On 2 July 2021, the highly-distinguished title of “Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honour” (“Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur au grade de chevalier”) was bestowed upon Doctor Jacques Caton in recognition of 50 years of service to Orthopaedics and Traumatology surgery, and his role as spokesperson for the specialty in France. Doctor Caton was Secretary General, then President, of the National Trade Union of Orthopaedics and Traumatology Surgeons for over 20 years.

Jacques Caton initiated a reform of academic hospital training following residency, allowing all orthopaedic surgeons equal access to a minimum of two years additional “superiorité” training. He also introduced, alongside two colleagues (Patrice Papin and Olivier Galland), orthopaedic surgery ‘Risk Management’ in France. Over the last 10 years, this reform has enabled a significant decrease in complaints from operated patients and financial support, in the form of 50% insurance cover, for orthopaedic surgeons.

Together with Hatem Saïd and Jochen Eulert, Jacques Caton is one of the three founding members of SICOT-J which was launched in 2014. It is the first free and open access Orthopaedics journal and one of the three official journals of the Société Internationale de Chirurgie Orthopédique et de Traumatologie (SICOT). Earlier this year, he and his current co-Editor-in-Chief, Andreas Mavrogenis, established a new Scientific Board for SICOT-J.

Doctor Caton is the author of many scientific publications, and notably contributed a new way of measuring patellar height, the “Caton-Deschamps Index”, which has been used worldwide over the past 40 years and is still used today for knee pathology and total knee replacement. All these achievements led the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, on the recommendation of the French Health Minister, Olivier Véran, to bestow upon Jacques Caton the Knighthood of the Order of the Legion of Honour. This most prestigious French distinction was created by Napoléon Bonaparte, First Consul, on 19 May 1802 to reward deserving civilian and military contributions.

The SICOT-J Editorial Board and Andreas Mavrogenis are most honoured by their colleague’s distinguished award, for outstanding achievement and congratulate Doctor Caton wholeheartedly. They are delighted to work with such an eminent professional who is also a full member of the National Academy of Medicine.