Straightening the Crooked Skeleton
The metaphorical engraving of a straight stake tied to a
crooked sapling decorated the frontispiece of the book
Orthopédie by Nicolas Andry published in 1741 . It was
then a new term created by combining two Greek words:
Orthos, which signifies straight, free from deformity, and
Pais, a Child.
Paediatric orthopaedics was undoubtly one of, if not the
oldest subspecialty of our fraternity.
Our Mission and Vision
The team was evolved over the past 30 years with a clear mission and vision:"to provide the
highest quality service in patient care, research, education and teaching for medical students and
postgraduate training". The team provides a comprehensive clinical service to all children and
adolescents with Orthopaedic and Trauma related diseases excluding musculoskeletal oncology.
The team at present run 9 specialized clinics and combined multidisciplinary clinics with more than
10,000 outpatients yearly.
Being an academic unit, the team is also actively involved in all levels of undergraduate teaching
and postgraduate training including clinical and research fellowships as well as basic and clinical
research activities.
Our Special Clinics
Scoliosis Clinic
was established in 1986 has grown significantly over the years with the annual new patient
referrals rising steadily to over 1,000 and an accumulated outpatient pool of over 15000 in 2013. The clinic is supported by an efficient orthotic and brace fitting service equiped with CAD-CAM technology.
Problem Lower Limb Clinic
takes care of all difficult lower limb problems: from congenital deformities, developmental anomalies, developmental dysplasia of the hip to limb length inequalities. There are more than 1500 patients on the book.
Combined Cerebral Palsy and Neuromuscular Clinic
is a joint clinic with the participation of paediatric neurologist, physiotherapists, occupational
therapists and prosthetist orthotists. It serves as a tertiary referral clinic where the diagnosis,
management, planning and rehabilitation programme will be discussed and formulated by the
whole team. Special out-reaching clinics are also held by the team in special schools outside the Hospital. These include the Cerebral Palsy Clinic in Lung Hang Pre-school Centre, the Ko Fook Iu School and PineHill School.
Combined Muscular Dystrophy Clinic
is a 3 monthly joint clinic dedicated for these rare and challenging diseases. It provided a valuable platform for service, learning and teaching.
Combined Spina Bifida Clinic
is a special combined one-stop clinic made possible from concerted effort from Paediatric
Orthopaedic Surgeons, Paediatric Surgeons, Neurosurgeons, Physiotherapist, Occupational
Therapist, Prosthetist and Orthotist. This clinic is the first of its kind in Hong Kong and all patients
will be seen by all parties together in the same clinic and the management plan would be
discussed and recorded in a central record. This reduces greatly the number of clinic visits and allows a much better planning and efficient delivery of the treatment and care of the patients and their families.
Torticollis Clinic
is a special clinic with more than 1,500 patients on the list and receiving more than 100 new referrals every year. The type of patients varies from new born babies with sternomastoid tumors to adolescent patients with muscular torticollis and other pathologies.
The General Paediatric Orthopaedic Clinic
receives referrals from general and specialist clinics, Maternity and Child Health Centres, Student
Health Service and private clinics in the east New Territory covering over 1 million population
and also tertiary referral from various other regions in Hong Kong. Sameday ultrasonographic
examination of newborn hips has been arranged with dedicated radiologist so that instant decision
can be made. The instant screening together with the no-waiting appointment have helped greatly in cutting down the anxiety and transportation time of the families, not to mention allowing prompt treatment for needy children.
Paediatric Trauma Clinic
takes care of a big bulk of children trauma cases and is the busiest clinic of its kind throughout
Hong Kong. The Clinic is equipped with instant low radiation portable screening X-ray machine. This has helped greatly in the immediate management of paediatric fractures and has thus significantly relieved the load for conventional radiographs.
Seating Clinic and Wheelchair Bank
for children with severe neuromuscular diseases. The clinic is established in 1995 and jointly
run with the Rehabilitation Engineering Centre of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the
Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist and Prosthetic and Orthotic Service. The clinic would
assess, design, modify, recommend and fit disabled patients with special seating requirements in a team effort. The Cathay Pacific Wheelchair Bank provides free special recirculated wheelchair and seating adaptation for needy families assessed by the Seating Clinic.
Research
A wide range of past, ongoing and future research projects were summarized in brief:
Epidemiological research
Childhood Injury Prevention Research Programme
Injury Minimization Programme for Schools
Clinical research
Research related to adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
Etiology: BMD, MRI, Genetic, Biochemical markers, MRI, Nutrition, SSEP
Clinical: multimedia database, osteopenia, growth disturbances, postural balance, bracing, surgery
Spinal monitoring: SEP, MEPs
Bone mineral studies:
Osteoporosis Research group related research
BMD studies in limb lengthening children
Computer assisted surgery:
3D-deformity assessment and planning
Navigation in scoliosis and limb deformity correction
Patient specific custom jig for deformity correction
Basic Science & Laboratory Research
BMP, stem cell research in spinal fusion
Biomaterial research – bone and spinal fusion
Shockwave and US in bone healing and fusion
Our Future Directions
On looking ahead, the team will strive to upkeep
its commitment to "provide the highest quality
service in patient care, research, education and
teaching for medical students and postgraduate
training". Further strategic development will be
focused on the specialized tertiary services in
Scoliosis surgery and complex limb lengthening
and reconstruction. The team will also further
enhance, develop and collaborate with its
established link with prestigious institutions in
mainland, Asia-pacific region and the world in the area of paediatric orthopaedics, scoliosis and related research.
 Adolescent Idiopathic scoliosis corrective surgery with use of computer navigation
 Lower Limb Deformity Correction using Taylor Spatial Frame | 
