Australia is a foundation member of the Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association—thus, recognising our geographical position in the most rapidly advancing region in the world. It is a serious mistake to think of Asia as ‘third world’. Research, education and surgical techniques are at the forefront of modern technology. Australia has to be a part of this ‘learn and teach’ movement. We have much to gain through exchange and travelling fellowships; paediatric, spinal, trauma and arthroplasty fellowships are available. The Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Travelling Fellowship is co-ordinated with corresponding organisations in Europe, North America and South America and previous travelling fellows become part of the influential Magellan Society. APOA has many sections (knee, hip, hand, spine, trauma, infection, sports medicine and paediatrics), with each having regular Congresses. Join APOA and attend the Triennial Congress in Taipei November 2010 and be impressed at the level of research

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is a common cause of hip pain in the young adult. Uncertainty regarding surgical indications, outcome assessment, management preferences and perceptions of the literature exist. We conducted a large international survey assessing the perceptions and demographics of orthopaedic surgeons regarding FAI. A survey was developed using previous literature, focus groups and a sample-to-redundancy strategy. The survey contained forty-six questions and was emailed to national orthopaedic associations and orthopaedic sports medicine societies for member responses. Members were contacted on multiple occasions to increase response rates. Nine hundred orthopaedic surgeons from twenty national and international organisations completed the survey. Surgeons responded across 6 continents, 58.2 % from developed nations with 35.4 % having sports fellowship training. North American and European surgeons reported significantly greater exposure to hip arthroscopy during residency and fellowships in comparison to international respondents (48.0% vs. 44.5% vs. 25.6% respectively; p<0.001). Surgeons performing a higher volume of FAI surgery (over 100 cases per year) were significantly more likely to have practiced for more than 20 years (OR 1.91; 95% CI 1.01 to 3.63), be practicing at an academic hospital (OR 2.25; 95% CI 1.22 to 4.15), and have formal arthroscopy training (OR 46.17; 95% CI 20.28 to 105.15). High volume surgeons were over two-fold more likely to practice in North America and Europe (OR 2.26; 95% CI: 1.08 to 4.72). The exponential rise in the diagnosis and surgical management for FAI appears to be driven largely by experienced surgeons in developed nations. Our analysis suggests that although FAI management is early in the innovation cycle we are at a tipping point towards wider uptake and utilisation. The results of this survey will help guide further research and study

Introduction. Meniscal injuries are very common cause of knee pain and resultant attendance to the orthopaedics or sports medicine clinics. The current protocol stands at clinical examination at first contact and establishing a diagnosis with clinical indicators like joint line tenderness, McMurray's, Apley's and weight-bearing test for meniscal pathology followed by MRI scan to confirm the diagnosis. Either surgical or conservative management follows this. We aim to assess clinical examination alone provide sufficient evidence for further management of meniscal injury and does a role of MRI scan exist to corroborate the findings. Methodology. We retrospectively studied 88 patients attending the sports medicine clinic for the duration 2004–2007 examined by senior clinical assessor. We investigated the co-relation of the clinical and MRI findings to validate if there exists an actual clinical justification to use MRI scan in every patient. We divided the data in further subsets of 57 patients in whom both clinical examination and MRI scan were performed and were validated by arthroscopy. The data obtained was analysed for parameters of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value [PPV] and negative predictive value [NPV]. Results. The comparison of clinical examination against MRI scans alone in 88 patients provided a accuracy of 81.81%, sensitivity of 95.77% and specificity of 23.52%. The assessment revealed that clinical examination yielded accuracy of 89.47%, sensitivity of 96%, specificity of 42 %, PPV of 92%, NPV of 60% while MRI scan was 87.70% accurate, 86% sensitive, with specificity of 100%, PPV of 100%, NPV of 57.14%. Conclusion. From the results yielded by the study we can conclude that in experienced hands the clinical examination is as robust as MRI scan for meniscal injury of knee and can negate the need for MRI scan to be performed in every painful knee with suspicious meniscal injury

Aims

The evidence base within trauma and orthopaedics has traditionally favoured quantitative research methodologies. Qualitative research can provide unique insights which illuminate patient experiences and perceptions of care. Qualitative methods reveal the subjective narratives of patients that are not captured by quantitative data, providing a more comprehensive understanding of patient-centred care. The aim of this study is to quantify the level of qualitative research within the orthopaedic literature.