Our Surgeons

I am a New Zealand trained Orthopaedic Surgeon, qualifying in 1994. Following this, I spent two years in the USA training as a sub specialist in the area of upper extremity surgery.

I trained with one of the world’s leading wrist arthroscopists in Philadelphia.

I also trained in shoulder, elbow, hand and wrist surgery in Florida and in Dallas, Texas.

I have held a public hospital appointment at Auckland City Hospital since 1997, performing traumatic and elective upper limb and general trauma orthopaedic surgery.

My private area of orthopaedic practice is confined to the upper extremity, including shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand surgery. I have 25 years of post fellowship experience in upper limb.

I perform and have vast experience in the full range of arthroscopic and open shoulder surgeries, including stabilization, rotator cuff repair and joint replacement, both anatomic and reverse.

I have extensive experience in all forms of elbow surgeries, including ligament reconstruction, arthritis surgery and both hemiarthroplasty and full elbow replacement.

I have performed hundreds of wrist arthroscopic procedures, as well as the full range of wrist open procedures, ligament and TFCC reconstruction and all common hand procedures.

Outside of Orthopaedics, my interests are in literature, art (I paint in both acrylics and watercolor), football (member and major sponsor of Bay Olympic football club), and sports in general.

I am married and have 3 grown children.

I am a founding partner in a group private practice setting at Domain Orthopaedics alongside three other subspecialist orthopaedic surgeons covering hip, knee, foot and ankle and tumour surgery.

Surgical Expertise

Hand and Wrist

• All common and complex problems
• Trigger fingers
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Dupuytren’s Contracture
• De Quervain’s Tendonitis,
• Arthritis of the hand/wrist/thumb CMC joint
• Wrist ligament and TFCC injuries
• Joint replacement of the fingers and wrist.
• Extensive experience in wrist arthroscopy and scaphoid surgery.

Elbow

• Extensive experience with lateral and medial ligament injuries
• Elbow dislocation
• Ulnar nerve surgery
• Elbow contracture surgery
• Degenerative/arthritic conditions of the elbow
• Elbow joint replacement
• Hemiarthroplasty

Shoulder

• Arthroscopic and open instability surgery for recurrent dislocations
• Rotator cuff repairs (arthroscopic-assisted and mini-open)
• Arthroscopic SLAP repair/biceps surgery
• Standard/reverse shoulder replacement surgery
• Arthroscopic treatment of frozen shoulder.

Procedures and Treatment

You should become as well informed about your problem as you can.

You will find many differing opinions on the multiple sites on the internet so if you are getting what seems like conflicting advice please say so and ask questions so you can be involved and share responsibility in the management of your condition.

I encourage you to look on the Internet and have attached some links, which may be useful.

Many musculo-skeletal conditions cannot be addressed by surgery and these websites also cover many of the conditions where surgery is generally not appropriate or is a last resort.

 

What’s New

2023

In September I traveled to Rome for the European Shoulder and Elbow Society meeting (SECEC). This meeting had all of the major shoulder and elbow surgeons in Europe, congregated together for several days, and was a great chance to talk to colleagues from not only New Zealand and Australia, but from those surgeons in Europe, who are at the forefront of shoulder and elbow surgery. it is always inspiring to hear these people; alterations to my practice, however, minor, always result from these sorts of meetings and I believe benefit patients.

2022

In September I travelled to Sydney for the Arthrex international Orthopaedic Trauma meeting. This was focused on latest developments in Shoulder surgery and shoulder implants used for arthroscopic shoulder instability, rotator cuff repair and other shoulder conditions. This was a great chance to meet colleagues in NZ and Australia, and hear from world renowned guest speakers. I have already started incorporating some of these newer and more refined implants in my shoulder practice.

2020

At the weekend I attended the Auckland UFC fight night as a ringside doctor. This was an honour and an incredible experience. These athletes have immense courage and strength, and the brutality of the exchanges up that close was a real experience. Examining them all after each fight gave me an insight into their incredible conditioning and pain tolerance. There were some significant injuries to deal with out back, quite a bit of stitching, and a number got sent for scans or to hospital. A great event; fun to work with other docs from Australia, and I look forward to doing this again when the UFC returns, hopefully soon.

2019

I recently returned from an Advanced Techniques Shoulder Symposium at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia. This was a top meeting and another valuable update on advanced shoulder surgery techniques that are used in my day to day practice.

2018

In September I attended the European Shoulder Society (SECEC) meeting in Geneva.

An excellent learning experience and valuable update on Shoulder Surgery with and an opportunity to catch up with overseas colleagues.

I visited the LIMA Factory in Italy. This is the company that produces the Reverse and Anatomic Shoulder Replacement implants that I use in my practice, and also makes “custom made” implants for difficult Revision Surgery of the Shoulder. These implants will be used more and more in the future.

 

Hand and Wrist

• Wrist arthroscopy
• Scaphoid fractures
• Ligament injuries of the wrist
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Dupuytren’s contracture
• Ganglion cysts of the wrist/hand
• Trigger finger/thumb
• Wrist/thumb arthritis
• Wrist joint replacement

Elbow

• Elbow dislocation
• Osteoarthritis of the elbow
• Ulnar nerve compression
• Tennis elbow/golfer’s elbow
• Total elbow replacement
• Elbow arthroscopy

Shoulder

• Chronic shoulder instability
• Rotator cuff tears
• Shoulder arthroscopy
• Shoulder impingement
• Clavicle fractures (broken collarbone)
• SLAP tears
• Shoulder joint replacement
• Reverse shoulder replacement
• Frozen shoulder