News & Information
Osteochondritis Dissecans
Osteochondritis Dissecans is a relatively common childhood problem in the knee. The name means bone and cartilage breaking away from the underlying bone. It most commonly heals by itself, but in adults, or adolescents over the age of 14, it seems more likely to break off than to heal. It is less common in girls, but the upper age cutoff for might be lowe
My Health Record Ready
David Mitchell, orthopaedic surgeon, chairs the AOA Digital Imaging Committee. He sits on a federal My Health Record committee as well, with a hope that MHR will help surgeons ultimately find patients radiology results.
Tendon Repairs/Recessions/Reconstructions/Transfers & Injections
Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine deal with many tendon conditions, both with and without surgery. The non operative group includes tendinopathies (e.g. tennis elbow, non insertional achilles tendonitis, jumpers knee) that often settle with rest/blood or PRP injections and a retraining program.
Ballarat OSM surgeon operates in Madagascar.
From a public health perspective, there is currently an outbreak of plague, which has killed over 100 people in the capital, Antananarivo. Parasitic diseases are common, with malaria and schistosomiasis being endemic and ongoing. Tuberculosis is another fairly common disease, and I have already seen patients with skeletal manifestations of TB. For the traveler, gastrointestinal illness is a constant hazard.
3D Printing in Surgery Solution
We have extensive experience with boney deformity correction. The most common is a bow deformity just below the knee – this eventually causes pain on the inner aspect of the knee, and arthritis. If we get to it early enough, correcting the deformity fixes the pain, and either slows or stops the onset of arthritis.
Not all bunions are the same!
Bunions refer to a painful lump over the medial aspect of the great toe, at the metatarsal-phalangeal joint (MTPJ).
Members of Australian Knee Society
The members are a speciality group of surgeons limited by qualifications, fellowship and standard of training. There are 14 members in Victoria and we are very proud to announce that Mr Luke Spencer has been appointed a new member of the society.
Ballarat OSM in East Africa
Shaun English (Orthopaedic Surgeon) & Julie Fahey (Practice Nurse) are joining a group of enthusiastic & dedicated volunteers on a medical expedition.
Inpatient Rehabilitation Doesn’t Help Most Joint Replacement Patients
Research from Mater Hospital Sydney. Of 748 patients having hip or knee replacement, only 44 patients chose to go directly home. They matched these patients to 44 most similar remaining in rehabilitation. Satisfaction with the surgery was HIGHER in the patients discharged directly home, and the health outcomes were not changed. They concluded that rehabilitation doesn’t help.