Professor of Orthopaedic Trauma and Sports Surgery, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences; Team Physician, Lithuanian National Men’s Basketball Team & Kaunas “Žalgiris”; International Arthroscopic Surgery Instructor

Prof. Rimtautas Gudas is a highly respected orthopaedic trauma and sports surgeon with over two decades of experience in advanced arthroscopic and joint reconstruction techniques. He serves as the team physician for the Lithuanian Men’s National Basketball Team and Kaunas “Žalgiris”, providing elite-level surgical support and sports medicine consultation.

He has pioneered procedures in Lithuania such as mosaic osteochondral cartilage transplantation (1999), donor anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (2005), and autologous chondrocyte implantation (2006). He remains a leading educator in arthroscopic sports surgery as an international course instructor.

Prof. Gudas has published over 60 peer‑reviewed papers in key areas including long-term outcomes of cartilage repair methods—most notably a ten-year randomized clinical trial comparing mosaic osteochondral transplantation versus microfracture in athletes—showing superior return-to-sport outcomes with mosaicoplasty. His research also includes comparative analyses of graft choices in ACL reconstruction and advancements in arthroscopic diagnostics of cartilage integrity.

He has led the Lithuanian Arthroscopic Surgeons Association and continues to contribute at the European level via committees such as ESSKA, OARSI, ICRS, and ISAKOS.