By Matt Geister
We were kindly invited to Peninsula Orthopaedics in Dee Why to attend an information and workshop evening. Headed up by Dr David Dickison and his esteemed group of Specialists. It was great for our team of Physio’s along with other local Physiotherapists, to meet up with our many local popular Orthopaedic Specialists to catch up on the latest innovations in the world of surgery and also what has evolved and changed to avoid surgery.
Dr Michelle Atkinson presented on surgery for Lumbar issues and Lumbar spine fusion operations. She confirmed that the general consensus amongst her peers is that they operate to reduce sciatic and nerve entrapment pains and symptoms, but rarely to reduce lower back pain. She confirmed that education and good understanding of the condition, as also a well designed strength and postural rehab program is still paramount in a positive outcome of lower back and disc injury. It was interesting to hear how pre-operative measurements and pelvic tilt angles measured prior to surgery would affect long term outcomes in function and assist in prevent recurring issues in the longer term following lumbar spine fusion Ops. She re-iterated that the majority of lower back pains do get better without requiring surgery, and do better with specific rehab and exercise based programs.
Dr Alex Nicholls presented on ACL reconstructions in Paediatrics, and how management of this injury in Children varies to that in an adult. Some interesting recent findings were disclosed including a little known ligament known as the ALL which we may hear about more in the future of re-stabilising an ACL injured knee.
Dr Matt Sherlock presented helpful tips on diagnosing and managing the classic “Frozen Shoulder” injury, while Dr Marcus Chia showed us in detail the intrinsics of repairing Shoulder rotator cuff injuries via arthroscopic techniques. Hand surgeon Dr Mark Hile presented his findings on finger PIP joint injuries, while Sports Physician Dr Luke Inman spoke about stress fractures in athletes and younger kids, and how we as Physio’s can be instrumental in helping identify risk factors and guide our patients into return to sport programs, especially guiding their tolerance of load to safe levels to help avoid these injuries.
Dr David Dickison gave us a run down of the future of knee replacements, showing us how Robots and Computer assisted technology are helping him refine accuracy and reproducibility in his procedures and produce more favourable patient outcomes.
Dr Robert Sew Hoy had some very interesting statistics on how pre-operative education and pre-hab can be a major influence on post operative outcomes and patient satisfaction.
These were just some of the presentations amongst other specialists from Peninsula Orthopaedics. A professional and friendly group of highly experienced and qualified Doctors and Specialists available to all our patients here on our doorstep on the Northern Beaches. As Physiotherapists we value our close relationship with practices like this, and our patients stand to benefit from us being able to help explain to them some of the latest technological advances, and be able to partake in informed discussions with their GP’s as to which specialists would be suitable for seeking further opinions on the wide variety of medical problems we encounter.
A big thank you to Peninsula Orthopaedics for an informative and enjoyable evening.