Orthopaedics

Who we are

Orthopaedics is the medical speciality that manages injuries or disorders of the skeletal system and associated muscles, joints and ligaments.

Orthopaedics Department provides planned surgical and non-operative care for children with more complex orthopaedic conditions, as well as emergency management of orthopaedic issues that require immediate attention.

Conditions we manage

Paediatric orthopaedic presentations suitable for treatment and management at PCH include (but are not limited to):

• Open and closed fractures 
• Joint dislocations 
• Spinal injuries
• Knee injuries
• Infections requiring acute orthopaedic intervention, including soft tissue, chronic or acute osteomyelitis, and septic arthritis
• Limb reconstruction
• Neurovascular injury
• Limb deformity correction
• Congenital talipes equinovarus
• Other congenital or acquired foot deformities
• Cerebral palsy
• Developmental dysplasia of the hip
• Perthes disease
• Slipped upper femoral epiphysis
• Scoliosis and spinal deformity
• Bony and soft tissue tumours
• Osteochondral defects of the knee
• Patello-femoral pathology.

Services we provide

Our team provides unplanned (emergency) management of paediatric orthopaedic injuries and presentations, which may be low, moderate or high complexity and planned orthopaedic services for all paediatric patients with orthopaedic conditions.

PCH Orthopaedics also provides follow-up care for children in regional areas via Telehealth.

For more information on preparing for your child's hospital stay please refer to the parent information under Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine.

Referrals

All Specialist Rooms, GP’s and WACHS referrers are being advised to direct all non-urgent referrals for PCH outpatient services to the Central Referral Service.  

Online

https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/A_E/Central-Referral-Service-guide-for-referrers 

• New referrals will be assessed against the eligibility guidelines and prioritised according to medical need.
• Referrals from Nurse Practitioners, other non-medical referrers and private hospitals (including those with a private-public partnership) are to be directed to PCH Referral Office.
• All urgent referrals are to be sent to the PCH Referral Office.
• Urgent referrals must always be discussed with the PCH Consultant / Registrar on call before the referral is sent.
• The referral needs to include the name of the Consultant/ Registrar the referrer spoke to.
• Each referral is to be faxed individually.

PCH switchboard

pch.referrals@health.wa.gov.au

For urgent cases, please attend the PCH Emergency Department.