General Orthopaedics and Trauma with a special interest in the Knee, Hip and Shoulder.

  Email address wattle135@ozemail.com.au or rob.atkinson@surgeons.org

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Rob was an early adopter of arthroscopic surgery starting in 1980. He also has a particular interest in minimally invasive mobile bearing unicompartmental knee replacement. In particular, he has been performing the Oxford knee replacement since 1981, along with the Exeter total hip replacement. Both of these implants have very high survivorship on the Australian Joint Replacement Register. In fact the Exeter hip is equal top in its field and Rob has the longest continuous experience in Australia. He has been performing mobile bearing total knee replacements since 1989, which is the longest continuous experience in South Australia.

He is a Councillor of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the Chair of Professional Development.

Private Practice 135 Hutt Street, Adelaide Ph (618) 8223 5677 (fax) (618) 8232 3273 Modbury Medical Centre Ph (618) 8265 5922 Ardrossan & Yorketown Ph (618) 8223 5677

Public Practice Modbury Public Hospital Ph  (618) 8161 2000 Ardrossan & Yorketown Ph (618) 8223 5677

Portfolio
Rob is a member of the Australian Knee Society, the Shoulder and Elbow Society and the AMA-SA Ethics and Road Trauma Committee, along with a number of other committees in the College of Surgeons. He has seen active military medical service in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Rwanda and Bougainville, East Timor four times, the last being in 2006, as well as serving in Banda Aceh after the tsunami. He has been Assistant Surgeon General to the Australian Defence Force and is a Brigadier in rank.

His published papers include...

Bone Scintography in Discitis and Related Disorders in Children, Australian and New Zealand Journal Surgery, Vol 48, No 4, August, 1978.

A method of pre-operative assessment for posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, The Medical Journal of Australia, November 24, 1984; 141:709-77.

A new clinical sign to aid the diagnosis of locked posterior dislocation of the shoulder, Emergency Medicine, Vol 8, 1996.

Internal fixation of pertrochanteric fractures of the femur with the Harris condylocephalic nail, The Australian & New Zealand Journal of Surgery, May 1994, Vol 64, No.5, pp 319-321.

Percutaneous K-wire stabilisation following closed reduction in the treatment of Colles’ fractures, Journal of Hand Surgery (British Volume, 1992) 17B: 55-62.

Military external fixation of fractures [with SQNLDR Gora Pathak, RAF, FRCS(Orth)], ADF Health, April 2001, Vol 2, No.1, p 24.

Lower Limb, check – Program of Self Assessment, The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Issue 353, July 2001.

The Role of Defence Health in Military Operations Other than War – A Research Proposal, Australian Defence Force Journal, May/June 2002, No 154.

Patellar ‘entry’ feature: a new arthroscopic anatomic finding [with G Pathak], The Knee, Vol 11, Issue 2, April 2004, pp 99-101.

Unmanned tele-operated robots as medical support on the battlefield, [with M Lucas, A Krstic, P Lozo, M Hutchins]
ADF Health, April 2005, Vol 6, No 1, pp 34-7.

Successful early mobilisation of major cuff repair using a suture post, Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, Vol 15, No 2, March/April 2006, pp 183-7.

He has recently returned from a War Extremity Symposium in Washington DC as an invited guest of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Orthopaedic Trauma Association of North America.

Rob is the Head of the Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma at Modbury Public Hospital which has one senior Orthopaedic trainee, two pre-training registrars, two RMOs, fourth- and sixth-year medical students. He remains committed to teaching interns through the outpatients department and was appointed Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide in 2006. He is a supporter of the Upper Limb Fellowship program under Dr Greg Bain’s supervision.

Electoral platform within the College of Surgeons:
Rob’s main aim, which has continued during his last six years as a College Councillor, is to maintain and strengthen the College of Surgeons as an independent umbrella organisation for all surgeons in two countries.

To that end he has acknowledged the specialisation process, reflecting increasing surgical knowledge in the best interest of patient care. He supports and encourages this process within the College structure, harnessing this energy in the best interest of all surgeons for the highest standard of patient care.

He recognises this as a force for good in selection, training and continuing professional development, enabling surgical leadership within the community and dialogue with government at every level.

He remains committed to the concept of a balanced practice between the private and public sectors with commitment to teaching, research and community service, which is embedded in the public teaching hospital environment.

Fee Structure
There are normally gaps to pay for consulting and these are $50 for the initial consultation.  In general terms, there are no gaps if there is insurance to the level of EasyClaim with Mutual Community. However, there are gaps to pay with bilateral simultaneous minimally invasive unicompartmental knee replacements due to the lack of Medicare reimbursement for the second implant. This gap is $500 Any out-of-pocket expenses are able to be discussed with Dr Atkinson or his staff.

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