Dr Tom Gieroba - Orthopaedic Surgeon

30/11/2024

External fixation is used to stabilise fractures with pins or wires outside the skin - often temporarily when the soft tissues, skin, equipment or patient condition don’t allow for definitive fixation.

Here the concept is applied to a thong toe plug after a dreaded blowout.

02/11/2024

Accidentally doing my best Ron Burgundy impression at the Annual Scientific Meeting while presenting on the Lateral Extra-articular Tenodesis (LET). This is an extra procedure sometimes done on the lateral side of the knee to reduce the risk of reinjury after an ACL reconstruction.

26/04/2024

This month Dr Thomas Fisher, Dr Tom Gieroba and Dr Nathan Eardley-Harris had the opportunity to present their collective knowledge of lower limb care at Sonder Professional Development Evening. Over 40 GP’s attended the event, learning innovative practices for managing common hip, knee and ankle concerns.

25/03/2024

Thanks Dr Christy Graff for organising this event and doing all the hard work. A pleasant Saturday afternoon talking all things foot and ankle injury with GPs, podiatrists and keen interns. And thank you Dr Thomas Fisher - Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Surgeon for coming and getting involved.

And thank you Dr Tom Gieroba - Orthopaedic Surgeon for the excellent photo taking... 📸😎

Thanks to all the GPs, interns and podiatrists who attended the education event ‘Understanding Injuries of the Foot and Ankle’. Your interaction and enthusiasm helped to make it a fantastic day.

18/03/2024

Fractures at the base of the 5th metatarsal in the foot are common. The most common type is right down at the tip (Zone 1). These heal well when left alone: 99-99.5% healing rate with early weight bearing.

Here is one of the 0.5%. Still sore at 3 months with no healing on X-Ray.

Fixed with a single screw put in through a

06/02/2024

Dr Tom Gieroba - now consulting in Mildura at the Advantage Health Group - 53 Eighth Street. Seeing privately insured patients, self funded, third party and work injuries. Hip, Knee, Ankle and Fractures.

19/12/2023

Merry Christmas from me, and the most severely comminuted patella fracture (smashedest kneecap) I have ever fixed.

This patella needed a plate and separate headless compression screws to fix all the fragments back together.

Despite the front of the kneecap being just under the skin, this plate is well buried and not causing any irritation.

06/12/2023

Some things cannot be 'fixed' - so we get to use a megaprosthesis (real word!)

Distal femur replacement (DFR) - done here for a fracture next to a total knee replacement (periprosthetic fracture). When the implant remains attached to the bone and there is enough bone stock to get good grip, normal fixation with plates or nails is the preferred option. In this case it was like a jigsaw puzzle but the kids have lost and mashed some of the pieces. There was insufficient bone stock and the prosthesis was completely detached from the bone.

The whole knee replacement was removed and the entire end of the femur was replaced with a prosthesis. It is strong enough for immediate weight bearing and is reasonably functional for mobility.

13/11/2023

.....And Part 2:

(make sure to find part 1).

This is what the femoral head looks like at the time of surgery. The bone surface under the cartilage has collapsed and the cartilage has separated off and started to crack. This is no longer a nice smooth hip joint but is now irregular and painful.

Total hip replacement is the solution once the head collapses - taking out the old head and replacing the head and socket with a prosthesis.

13/11/2023

Part 1:

Check out this video. Over the course of 7 months you can see the femoral head in this hip collapsing - a condition called avascular necrosis. Sometimes it is due to an injury or medical condition, often it is idiopathic (happens for no reason) as was the case here.

The bone loses its blood supply and dies. When it dies, it is unable to heal and protect itself from the stress of daily life and eventually collapses. Once collapsed the joint loses its smooth surface and this leads to painful degeneration in the joint.

01/10/2023

Did you know that every joint replacement in Australia is followed up on the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry (AOA NJRR)? Based here in the SAHMRI 'cheese grater' in Adelaide.

Its new 2023 annual report is out!

Established in 1999, it's one of the world's largest databases dedicated to joint replacements - now with nearly 2 million joints.

The Registry collects and analyses data on joint replacement surgeries across Australia, providing valuable insights into implant performance and patient outcomes.

The Registry provides information to assist in deciding the best type of artificial joint replacement to use in any particular situation.

https://aoanjrr.sahmri.com/annual-reports-2023