About me

Li Felländer-Tsai, MD, Dr Med Sc, was appointed full professor and senior consultant in orthopaedic surgery at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital in 2006.

Between May 1 2001 - March 31 2017 she was chairman at the Department KARO, later the Center for Surgical Sciences followed by the Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology which is a merger between the Center for Surgical Sciences and the Department of Clinical Science.

Li Felländer-Tsai is director of the Center for Advanced Medical Simulation and Training (CAMST). As an orthopaedic surgeon she is active in orthopaedic research, education and training as well as advanced surgical technology. She is past president of the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (efort.org) and Deputy Editor of Acta Orthopaedica. Li Felländer-Tsai is past president of the Swedish Orthopaedic Association (2012-2016) and past president of the Nordic Orthopaedic Federation (2016-2018). She is past registrar and chairman of the Swedish ACL Register (National quality registry for cruciate ligament injuries). She chaired the process of Accreditation of the Center for Advanced Medical Simulation and Training as an American College of Surgeons Level I (Comprehensive) Educational Institute. In 2001 she was awarded Karolinska Institutets annual Pedagogical Prize. In 2017 she was appointed honorary member of the Swedish Orthopaedic Association and in 2023 she was appointed honorary member of the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT). Li Felländer-Tsai has served as expert reviewer for e.g. The Swiss National Science Foundation, The Norwegian Research Council, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen Health Science Partners and Tartu University. She has previously been consultant orthopaedic surgeon for the Cullberg Ballet Company.

She has supervised 15 completed PhD theses at Karolinska Institutet and served as external examiner (opponent) for numerous PhD theses both in Sweden and internationally.

Research description

​​​​Muscoloskeletal disease and trauma:

Li Felländer-Tsais research focuses on recovery after injury and surgery of the musculoskeletal system, rehabilitation and also tissue metbolism. She has developed and implemented a technique for monitoring of synovial tissue metabolism and inflammation with intraoperative and postoperative microdialysis. Other fields of her research include trauma and tissue regeneration.

Her research includes epidemiological aspects of trauma and surgery.

The goal is optimal pain relief and healing with good joint function, minimizing adverse long term effects including osteoarthritis.

Advanced medical simulation and training:

The vision of this research field is to create a new de-facto standard for training technical and non technical skills (team behaviour) in high stakes healthcare with advanced medical simulators, where ergonomic principles are followed, and thus optimize patient safety. The aim is also to develop valid and reliable training and assessment instruments for technical skills so that individual training programs can be developed in which individual factors such as working memory and visuospatial ability can be targeted. When valid measures of team behavior and surgical skills are established, these can be translated into evidence-based training and education with both theory and practice. The ultimate goal is advanced state-of-the-art courses for trainers ( "train the trainer" course) with modern principles of both team training and advanced skills training. By training instructors and teachers the next generation of healthcare professionals will improve skills and attitudes in favour of patient safety.

Selected publications:

Surgery with locking plate or hemiarthroplasty versus nonoperative treatment of 3–4-part proximal humerus fractures in older patients (NITEP): An open-label randomized trial

All professions can benefit - a mixed-methods study on simulation-based teamwork training for operating room teams

Does patient-surgeon sex discordance impact adverse events following primary total hip arthroplasty?

Decreasing incidence of knee arthroscopy in Sweden between 2002 and 2016: a nationwide register-based study

Mortality following proximal humerus fracture-a nationwide register study of 147,692 fracture patients in Sweden

Careful patient selection together with optimal implant positioning may reduce but does not eliminate the risk of elevated serum cobalt and chrome levels following metal-on-metal hip resurfacing

Growth Differentiation Factor 7 promotes multiple-lineage differentiation in tenogenic cultures of mesenchymal stem cells.

Secular trends in incidence and seasonal variation of distal radius fracture among children: A nationwide study based on the Swedish National Patient Register 2002-2016

A pilot multicentre cluster randomised trial to compare the effect of trauma life support training programmes on patient and provider outcomes

Incidence of femoral fractures in children and adolescents in Finland and Sweden between 1998 and 2016: A binational population-based study

Personal protection equipment for orthopaedic and trauma surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic: The results of an EFORT survey initiative

The bone anchored prostheses for amputees – Historical development, current status, and future aspects

Technology-Enhanced Learning of Human Trauma Biomechanics in an Interprofessional Student Context

Epidemiology and mortality of pelvic and femur fractures-a nationwide register study of 417,840 fractures in Sweden across 16 years: diverging trends for potentially lethal fractures

Living with a recalled implant: a qualitative study of patients' experiences with ASR hip resurfacing arthroplasty

Virtual congresses - the new normal? EFORT 2020 re-worked: The Virtual EFORT Congress (VEC) from 28 to 30 October 2020 is coming this way!

Pandemic pressure: policy, politics, profession, and rapid publication

Distal Biceps Tendon Rupture Surgery: Changing Incidence in Finnish and Swedish Men Between 1997 and 2016

Fractures after kidney transplantation: Incidence, predictors, and association with mortality

Pandemic pressure: policy, politics, profession, and rapid publication

Incidence of Fractures Before and After Dialysis Initiation

Major fractures after initiation of dialysis: Incidence, predictors and association with mortality.
Iseri K, Carrero JJ, Evans M, Felländer-Tsai L, Berg H, Runesson B, et al
Bone 2020 Jan;():115242

AI ethics, accountability, and sustainability: revisiting the Hippocratic oath.
Felländer-Tsai L
Acta Orthop 2020 Feb;91(1):1-2

SNS Research Brief. Medical Training for Future Healthcare. Felländer-Tsai L, Östman Wernerson A, Bergenfelz A.

Operative versus non-operative treatment for 2-part proximal humerus fracture: A multicenter randomized controlled trial. Launonen AP, Sumrein BO, Reito A, Lepola V, Paloneva J, Jonsson KB, Wolf O, Ström P, Berg HE, Felländer-Tsai L, Jansson KÅ, Fell D, Mechlenburg I, Døssing K, Østergaard H, Märtson A, Laitinen MK, Mattila VM; as the NITEP group. PLoS Med. 2019 Jul 18;16(7):e1002855. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002855. eCollection 2019 Jul.

Younger patients and smokers report a higher level of pain after knee arthroscopy: a clinical and experimental study including synovial metabolism.
Berglund L, Stålman A, Dungner E, Qureshi AR, Kumlin M, Felländer-Tsai L
Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 2019 Feb;27(2):471-477

Learning through a virtual patient vs. recorded lecture: a comparison of knowledge retention in a trauma case.
Courteille O, Fahlstedt M, Ho J, Hedman L, Fors U, von Holst H, et al
Int J Med Educ 2018 Mar;9():86-92

How to tackle the orthopedic maze.
Felländer-Tsai L
Acta Orthop 2017 10;88(5):465

Video analysis in basic skills training: a way to expand the value and use of BlackBox training?
Oussi N, Loukas C, Kjellin A, Lahanas V, Georgiou K, Henningsohn L, et al
Surg Endosc 2018 01;32(1):87-95

Medical students' situational motivation to participate in simulation based team training is predicted by attitudes to patient safety.
Escher C, Creutzfeldt J, Meurling L, Hedman L, Kjellin A, Felländer-Tsai L
BMC Med Educ 2017 Feb;17(1):37

The Effect of Socioeconomic Status on the Choice of Treatment for Patients With Cruciate Ligament Injuries in the Knee: A Population-Based Cohort Study.
Nordenvall R, Marcano AI, Adami J, Palme M, Mattila VM, Bahmanyar S, et al
Am J Sports Med 2017 03;45(3):535-540

Trends in the Incidence of Clavicle Fractures and Surgical Repair in Sweden: 2001-2012.
Huttunen TT, Launonen AP, Berg HE, Lepola V, Felländer-Tsai L, Mattila VM
J Bone Joint Surg Am 2016 Nov;98(21):1837-1842

Proximal humeral fractures in Sweden-a registry-based study.
Sumrein BO, Huttunen TT, Launonen AP, Berg HE, Felländer-Tsai L, Mattila VM
Osteoporos Int 2017 03;28(3):901-907

Traumatic transfers: calibration is adversely affected when prediction models are transferred between trauma care contexts in India and the United States.
Gerdin M, Roy N, Felländer-Tsai L, Tomson G, von Schreeb J, Petzold M, et al
J Clin Epidemiol 2016 06;74():177-86

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training by Avatars: A Qualitative Study of Medical Students' Experiences Using a Multiplayer Virtual World.
Creutzfeldt J, Hedman L, Felländer-Tsai L
JMIR Serious Games 2016 Dec;4(2):e22

Visual-spatial ability is more important than motivation for novices in surgical simulator training: a preliminary study.
Schlickum M, Hedman L, Felländer-Tsai L
Int J Med Educ 2016 Feb;7():56-61

Linear Dendritic Block Copolymers as Promising Biomaterials for the Manufacturing of Soft Tissue Adhesive Patches Using Visible Light Initiated Thiol-Ene Coupling Chemistry

Post-operative bracing after ACL reconstruction has no effect on knee joint effusion. A prospective, randomized study.
Lindström M, Wredmark T, Wretling ML, Henriksson M, Felländer-Tsai L
Knee 2015 Dec;22(6):559-64

Cruciate ligament reconstruction and risk of knee osteoarthritis: the association between cruciate ligament injury and post-traumatic osteoarthritis. a population based nationwide study in Sweden, 1987-2009.
Nordenvall R, Bahmanyar S, Adami J, Mattila VM, Felländer-Tsai L
PLoS ONE 2014 ;9(8):e104681

Predicting early mortality in adult trauma patients admitted to three public university hospitals in urban India: a prospective multicentre cohort study.
Gerdin M, Roy N, Khajanchi M, Kumar V, Dharap S, Felländer-Tsai L, et al
PLoS ONE 2014 ;9(9):e105606

Early hospital mortality among adult trauma patients significantly declined between 1998-2011: three single-centre cohorts from Mumbai, India.
Gerdin M, Roy N, Dharap S, Kumar V, Khajanchi M, Tomson G, et al
PLoS ONE 2014 ;9(3):e90064

Incidence of knee dislocation and concomitant vascular injury requiring surgery: a nationwide study.
Sillanpää PJ, Kannus P, Niemi ST, Rolf C, Felländer-Tsai L, Mattila VM
J Trauma Acute Care Surg 2014 Mar;76(3):715-9

Acute achilles tendon ruptures: incidence of injury and surgery in Sweden between 2001 and 2012.
Huttunen TT, Kannus P, Rolf C, Felländer-Tsai L, Mattila VM
Am J Sports Med 2014 Oct;42(10):2419-23

Diclofenac and triamcinolone acetonide impair tenocytic differentiation and promote adipocytic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.
Fredriksson M, Li Y, Stålman A, Haldosén LA, Felländer-Tsai L
J Orthop Surg Res 2013 Sep;8():30

A population-based nationwide study of cruciate ligament injury in Sweden, 2001-2009: incidence, treatment, and sex differences.
Nordenvall R, Bahmanyar S, Adami J, Stenros C, Wredmark T, Felländer-Tsai L
Am J Sports Med 2012 Aug;40(8):1808-13

Systematic video game training in surgical novices improves performance in virtual reality endoscopic surgical simulators: a prospective randomized study.
Schlickum MK, Hedman L, Enochsson L, Kjellin A, Felländer-Tsai L
World J Surg 2009 Nov;33(11):2360-7

Temperature-sensitive release of prostaglandin E₂ and diminished energy requirements in synovial tissue with postoperative cryotherapy: a prospective randomized study after knee arthroscopy.
Stålman A, Berglund L, Dungnerc E, Arner P, Felländer-Tsai L
J Bone Joint Surg Am 2011 Nov;93(21):1961-8

Ketorolac but not morphine exerts inflammatory and metabolic effects in synovial membrane after knee arthroscopy: a double-blind randomized prospective study using the microdialysis technique.
Stålman A, Tsai JA, Segerdahl M, Dungner E, Arner P, Felländer-Tsai L
Reg Anesth Pain Med ;34(6):557-64

Systematic simulation-based team training in a Swedish intensive care unit: a diverse response among critical care professions.
Meurling L, Hedman L, Sandahl C, Felländer-Tsai L, Wallin CJ
BMJ Qual Saf 2013 Jun;22(6):485-94

Cancellations of elective surgery may cause an inferior postoperative course: the ‘invisible hand’ of health-care prioritization? https://doi.org/10.1258/ce.2011.011005

 

Education

MD Karolinska Institutet 1991

Dr Med Sc Karolinska Institutet 1992

Appointed associate professor at Karolinska Institutet 1996

Internship and residency in orthopaedic surgery 1992-1999

Board certified orthopaedic surgeon 1999

Fellow with professor Lyle Micheli, Childrens Hospital Harvard University, during spring 1996

Consultant in Orthopaedic surgery 1999-2006

Appointed full professor and senior consultant in orthopaedic surgery at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital 2006

Academic honours, awards and prizes

1998: The award "The outstanding young persons of the world (TOYP)" in the category academic leadership and research, Sweden.

2001: Karolinska Institutets annual Pedagogical Prize.

2017: Appointed honorary member of the Swedish Orthopaedic Association.

2023: Appointed honorary member of the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT).