Mike has just returned from a very successful trip to the American Society for Surgery of the Hand held this year in Boston (ASSH).this
Mike gave three instructional course lectures mainly based around sports hand injuries. He also attended a “consultation corner “ session where attending delegates are able to bring difficult cases for the faculty to discuss and offer advice.
The best attended session was sports injuries of the hand and wrist where he taught on thumb metacarpophalangeal joint ligament injuries. He was able to share his experiences in the types of reconstruction techniques he uses to repair thumb ligaments.
He spoke about both acute and chronic injuries and his experiences of allowing these athletes to return to play.
Mike also spoke on radial shaft fractures and how they are treated in the collision athlete. He gave some tips on how to get the bone to heal and return to play as soon as possible.
Mike's last talk was on the unique considerations we have to consider when treating ulna sided wrist pain in athletes. Mike showed examples of Hook of Hamate fractures, ECU stabilisation procedures, and the treatment of TFCC injuries both through open and arthroscopic techniques.
The hook of hamate is often treated operatively in the athlete with excision of the hook with a likely return to play once the wound is healed.
ECU stabilisation is performed by using a row of small anchors along the ridge of the ECU groove. Mike has recently been performing this operation wide awake under the local anaesthetic with no tourniquet (WALANT). He demonstrated this operative technique to the audience and how he was able to get biofeedback from the athlete during the procedure to ensure a stable reconstruction had been performed.