International congress of the croatian society for burn injuries of the croatian medical ssociation

FEEL THE BURNS – DO WORK

PREVENT – SURVIVE – CARE

THE 1st INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE CROATIAN SOCIETY FOR BURN INJURIES OF THE CROATIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

Under the auspices of:

Croatian Parliament
Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia
Ministry of Tourism and Sport of the Republic of Croatia
Zadar County
City of Zadar
City of Zagreb

Final program

CONFERENCE

FEEL THE BURNS – DO WORK

PREVENT – SURVIVE – CARE

The 1st International Congress Of The Croatian Society for Burn Injuries of the Croatian Medical Association

Hotel Pinija Petrčane, Croatia

22nd – 24th April 2026

Register

WELCOME MESSAGE

Zoran Barčot

consultant pediatric surgeon, President of the CSBI

“Dear all members of multidisciplinary burn teams,

For the first time in Croatia, the Croatian Society for Burn Injuries (CSBI) is proud to host an international burn congress in the beautiful city of Zadar.

This English-Croatian event brings together burn care professionals from all disciplines, from surgery and intensive care to nursing, rehabilitation, and nutrition.

Our program features expert-led plenary sessions, scientific presentations, and insights into the latest strategies, techniques, and technologies, including the role of AI in modern burn care.

Join us not only for knowledge-sharing, but also for memorable social events: meet, feel and explore Zadar, both an atmospheric time machine and an open-air museum. There on display, you will find some of the most beautiful monuments of architecture and cultural heritage of the eastern Adriatic coast. Its city walls are the ancient guardians of this still vibrant historic museum in the open added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
We look forward to welcoming you to Croatia in 2026!”

CONFERENCE

Conference Program

Organizer:
Croatian Society for Burn Injuries of the Croatian Medical Association

Chairman:
Prim. Zoran Barčot, dr. med.

Secretary:
Dr. sc. Rok Kralj, dr. med.

Chairman of Organizing Committee:
Prim. Zoran Barčot, dr. med.

Members of Organizing Committee:
Dr. sc. Rok Kralj, Mario Kurtanjek, Višnja Majić Zidarić, Prim. dr. sc. Aleksandra Munjiza, izv. prof. dr. sc. Aleksandra Pirjavec Mahić, doc. dr. sc. Ivan Utrobičić

Chairman of Scientific and Management Board:
Prim. dr. sc. Aleksandra Munjiza

Members:
dr. sc. Višnja Majić Zidarić, izv. prof. dr. sc. Aleksandra Pirjavec Mahić, doc. dr. sc. Ivan Utrobičić

Key topics include:

Acute burn management: updated guidelines
Surgical and reconstructive approaches
Intensive care
Nursing
Physical and psychological rehabilitation
Burn prevention in children and adults
Implementation of best practices and education

Official Languages:
Croatian and English (no simultaneous translation)

CME Accreditation:
Case number: 145-1418/26. The meeting was categorized as an International Congress and active participants were awarded 20 points, and passive participants were awarded 12 points. Nurses will be scored according to the Rules of the Croatian Chamber of Nurses.

Venue:
Hotel Pinija in Zadar; Ulica V 1a, 23231 Petrčane, Croatia

Invitation Letter:
request via e-mail reservations@quovadis.hr

Official Badges:
all registered participants with paid fees receive official badges

Insurance:
participants responsible for own travel/medical insurance

PROGRAM AT-A-GLANCE

Wednesday, 22nd April 2026

14:00 – 20:00 Registration and info desk open – hotel Pinija

16:15 – 17:00 Congress opening – Riva congress hall – hotel Pinija

17:00 – 17:40 Plenary Session:BUILDING A RESILIENT BURN WORKFORCE: FROM INNOVATION TO CRISIS

PROF. JEFFREY E. CARTER, MD, FACS, FABA

President ABA, American Burn Association; Professor of Surgery, LSUHSC New Orleans

Director, UMC Trauma & Burn Services, New Orleans, USA

In this session, we will discuss how artificial intelligence and other innovations can help burn care communities adapt and excel during times of both crisis and stability.

17:40 – 18:10 Coffee break

18:10 – 19:00 Free Papers Session

19:00 – Welcome reception – hotel Pinija

Thursday, 23rd April 2026

08:00 – 19:00 Registration and info desk open – hotel Pinija

09:00 – 09:40 Plenary Session

NADIA DEPETRIS, M.D. Anaesthesiologist-Intensivist

President EBA – European Burn Association, Executive Member 2025-2027

Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Azienda Ospedaliera Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Italy

09:40 – 10:20 Plenary Session: PRE-EXPANDED FLAPS AS A STRATEGY FOR COMPLEX BURN SCAR RECONSTRUCTION

PROF. MILOMIR NINKOVIĆ, MD, PhD

Professor of Plastic Surgery, Head of Department for Plastic, Aesthetic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery

International medical Center PRIORA, Ćepin, Croatia

To improve aesthetic and functional outcomes in the reconstruction of severe postburn deformities and to reduce donor-site morbidity, pre-expansion of free-flap donor sites was performed. In the first stage of reconstruction, the tissue expander was placed in the donor region and gradually inflated over a period of 6 to 8 weeks. In the second stage, the postburn scar was resected radically up to the limits of the aesthetic unit and immediate coverage with a pre-expanded free flap was performed. Long-term follow-up over 25 years of patients who underwent reconstruction of extensive postburn deformities demonstrated good aesthetic and functional results. 

10:20 – 10:40 Sponsored lecture

10:40 – 11:10 Coffee break with exhibitors

11:10 – 11:30 Sponsored lecture

11:30 – 12:30 Free Papers Session

12:30 – 13:00 Sponsored lecture

13:00 – 14:00 Working lunch

14:00 – 14:20 Sponsored lecture

14:20 – 15:00 Plenary Session: INTERBURNS: A JOURNEY FROM IDEA TO IMPACT

PROF. TOMO POTOKAR, OBE, MBChB, FRCS (Ed), FRCS (Plast), DA (UK), DTM&H

Interburns, United Kingdom

This will cover the history of Interburns from an idea formed  in 2005 to the establishment as a formal organisation in 2006 and the journey over the last 20 years, the setbacks and successes, culminating in our „comprehensive, integrated approach to burn care and prevention“ with programmes stretching from Bangladesh to Lebanon, from Tanzania to Sierra Leone and our work with amongst others the World Health Organisation and the European Union encompassing training, education, research , mass casualty planning, emergency deployment and supporting burns services and Governments with capacity building and strategic planning.

15:00 – 16:20 Free Papers Session

16:20 – 16:50 Coffee break with exhibitors – hotel lobby

16:50 – 17:10 Sponsored lecture

17:10 – 18:00 E-poster Session

20:30 Congress Dinner – hotel Pinija

Friday, 24th April 2026

08:30 – 13:00 Registration and info desk open – hotel Pinija

09:00 – 09:20 Sponsored lecture

09:20 – 10:00 Plenary Session: SETTING UP OF A BURNS UNIT IN COUNTRIES WITH LESS RESOURCES

DOMINIQUE POTOKAR

Interburns Lead Nurse, Chair of Profession Allied to Medicine Comittee for EBA, France

After decades of experience, Interburns has the perfect multidisciplinary network of Burn professionals to design and set up a state-of-the-art Burns Unit with a lay out suiting patients and staff and basic requirements of today modern medicine. We have a strong sense of ethics but also a real understanding of countries with less resources. It is possible to care for burn patients with these limitations. Example: Interburns setting and opening a burns unit in Saida, Lebanon, November, 2024.

10:00 – 10:20 Sponsored lecture

10:20 – 10:50 Coffee break with exhibitors

10:50 – 11:40 Free Papers Session

11:40 – 12:10 Sponsored lecture

12:10 – 12:55 Free Papers Session

12:25 – 13:00 Closing remarks

SPEAKERS (8)

Confirmed Speakers
and Lecturers

JEFFREY E. CARTER, MD, FACS, FABA

President, American Burn Association, Professor of Surgery, LSUHSC,
Director, UMC Trauma & Burn Services
Medical Director, LCMC Supply Chain,
University Medical Center New Orleans

Dr. Carter is a Professor of Surgery at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and serves as the Director of Trauma and Burn Services at University Medical Center of New Orleans. He completed his general surgery training at Wake Forest University, followed by fellowships in Trauma and Surgical Critical Care and in Burn Care at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He later completed a third fellowship in applied learning and healthcare design at Wake Forest University before joining the trauma and burn faculty.

Dr. Carter has been credited with building a team-based simulation program and reducing sentinel events to zero across 80,000 consecutive surgical cases as a resident and leading numerous clinical trials. In 2017, he relocated to New Orleans to establish the region’s only burn center, which achieved ABA verification in just two years. He has since expanded the burn research program to more than $100 million in funding. Dr. Carter has received multiple teaching awards, the ABA Moyer Award, Womack Award, and was named a “Healthcare Hero” after contributing to a reduction in burn mortality in southern Louisiana by more than 50 percent. He currently serves as President of the American Burn Association and sits on several boards overseeing prehospital care.

His clinical and research interests primarily focus on education and the development of innovative technologies that improve value by enhancing access, efficiency, and health economics.

PROF. NADIA DEPETRIS

Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Azienda Ospedaliera Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Italy President EBA, Executive Member 2025-2027, Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Azienda Ospedaliera Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Italy

PROF. MILOMIR NINKOVIĆ

MD, PhD, Professor of Plastic Surgery, Head of Department for Plastic, Aesthetic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, International medical Center PRIORA, Ćepin, Croatia

He specialized in general surgery, completed a subspecialization in plastic surgery, and earned his master’s degree at the Sarajevo Medical Faculty, University of Sarajevo.

In May 1997, he won the first prize for the best project at the Congress of the European Association of Plastic Surgeons (EURAPS) in Amsterdam, and was also awarded the Theodor-Billroth Award by the Austrian Surgical Society. In 1998, Prof. Ninković was awarded the City of Innsbruck Prize for the most successful scientific research at the Leopold-Franzens University in Innsbruck, Austria. From November 2003 to December 31, 2023, Prof. Ninković headed the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Hand Surgery and Burns at the Bogenhausen Hospital, Klinikum München. In February 2024, Prof. Ninković joined IMC Priora, becoming part of the medical team and assuming the role of Head of the Department of Plastic, Aesthetic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery. With this move, his decades of international experience were transferred to Slavonia, where he continues to shape new standards of excellence and educate the next generation of surgeons.

DOMINIQUE NAVET – POTOKAR

Interburns Lead Nurse, EBA, Profession Allied to Medicine Comittee Chair, France

A Burns nurse (trained in France) and scrub nurse (diploma from Switzerland). She is the lead nurse for Interburns nursing training, worked in Burn care in France and in the UK and in many countries with less resources. She is in charge since its creation, of a 5-day interactive course ABC Advance Burn Course for Nurses, developed and delivered by an international faculty in 7 countries (Bangladesh, Ghana, Nepal, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, UAE) between 2016 and 2025. She is involved in Mentorship, training European Rapid Respons Team, online training. With a surgeon and an anaesthetist, they set up a Burns Unit in Lebanon and started treating patients in 2024.

PROF. TOMO POTOKAR

OBE, MBChB, FRCS (Ed), FRCS (Plast), DA (UK), DTM&H, Plastic Surgeon, Founder of Interburns, France

Tomo Potokar founded Interburns in 2006 and led the development of a comprehensive integrated approach to capacity building and quality improvement in burn care and prevention in low resource environments, with programs across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. He trained in general surgery at Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa and in plastic surgery in Bristol, Cambridge, Liverpool, Swansea and Wellington New Zealand. He was appointed as NHS consultant plastic surgeon at the Welsh Centre for Burns & Plastic Surgery in Swansea in 2004 where he worked until 2017 when he took up a full time post as Professor of Global Burn Injury and Director of the NIHR Global Health Research Group on Burn Trauma at Swansea University. In 2017 he was awarded an OBE by the Queen for services to burn care and prevention globally and in 2025 was presented with the Medal for Honourable Conduct by the President of Slovenia for services to humanity and his work in treating burns and trauma victims in war zones.

ABOUT US

About the Croatian Society for Burn Injuries

The Croatian Society for Burn Injuries (CSBI) of the Croatian Medical Association is the only professional body in Croatia exclusively dedicated to the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of individuals affected by burns.

Our mission is to connect, educate, and advance burn care nationally and internationally. We provide training, workshops, and scientific programs to healthcare professionals across multiple disciplines including surgery, nursing, intensive care, rehabilitation, and burn prevention.

CSBI also promotes research, collaboration with international burn societies, and the implementation of best practices to improve outcomes for burn patients.

Learn more about the Association on :

hdo.hlz.hr

REGISTRATION

Registration and Fees

Registration managed by QUO VADIS.

Registration Fees:

Physicians

€ 200

Nurses

€ 100

Residents

€ 100

Others

€ 100

Registration fee for participants – physicians, nurses and residents include:

Attendance at the scientific program of the Congress and the sponsor exhibition
The welcome reception at the congress venue
Working lunches and coffee breaks
Congress materials (program, bag, accreditation)

The Congress Dinner constitutes a professional social event directly related to the scientific objectives of the congress, and it is not included in the registration fee.

Early registration until 19 February 2026

Submit Registration

ACCOMODATION

Where to stay?

The conference will be held in the Riva congress hall at the HOTEL PINIJA in Zadar; Ulica V 1a, 23231 Petrčane, Croatia https://hotel-pinija.hr/hr/

Hotel rooms in the hotel Pinija as well as in the Falkensteiner hotel in Zadar; Ulica 1/151, 23231 Petrčane, Croatia; can be booked via registration form with Congress discount included with the same prices:

118 EUR/night in a double room / SINGLE USE, bed and breakfast basis
144 EUR/night in a double room / DOUBLE USE, bed and breakfast basis

Other types of accommodation on request through our event agency: reservations@quovadis.hr

Free congress transfer service between hotels for participants will be provided several times a day.

SPONSORSHIP

Sponsorship Opportunities

Dear sponsors and exhibitors,

We warmly invite you to participate in the First International Congress of the Croatian Burn Society (HDO2K26). This unique event will bring together leading Croatian and international professionals in burn care, including surgeons, nurses, intensivists, rehabilitation specialists, and researchers.   

By exhibiting or sponsoring, you will have the opportunity to:

Showcase your products, services, and innovations directly to a highly specialized and engaged audience.
Engage with decision-makers and key stakeholders in burn care.
Participate in a scientific and educational program that promotes collaboration and knowledge exchange.

The congress offers a range of flexible sponsorship and exhibition options to suit different goals, from full exhibition spaces and sponsored lectures to smaller promotional opportunities.

Join us in supporting the advancement of burn care in Croatia and internationally, while enhancing visibility for your organization.

All communication with exhibitors is handled through our event agency.

Packages

EXHIBITION

€1,400 + VAT