Musculoskeletal tumours

These may be benign tumours – e.g. lipoma, nerve sheath tumours, osteochondroma, osteoid osteoma

Musculoskeletal oncology also includes the treatment of malignant tumours or cancers. Cancers that arise from the connective tissues (muscle, bone, tendon, nerve, blood vessels) are called Sarcomas. These are very rare cancers where early diagnosis and appropriate treatment is important to achieve successful outcomes.

Sarcomas should be treated by dedicated specialists working within a multi disciplinary sarcoma service. Mr. Powell is a sarcoma surgeon with over 20 years of experience and is a member of the Victorian Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Service.

Mr Powell also treats patients with spread of other cancers to the bones, which are called metastases. This treatment is often done in conjunction with a medical oncologist or radiation oncologist.

Joint replacement surgery

Arthritis is the result of any condition that causes a joint to wear out. Examples include

• Inflammatory conditions (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis)
• Tumours (e.g. pigmented villo-nodular synovitis, metastasis)
• Trauma (e.g. post-traumatic arthritis, SUFE)
• Developmental (e.g. hip dysplasias)

By far the most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis, which may be in part hereditary. Arthritis is generally a progressive condition, which is not curable. It is managed in most cases by non-operative means. When the symptoms of arthritis can no longer be controlled non-operatively, surgery may be indicated as part of the treatment plan.

Various types of surgery may be appropriate, including:

• arthroscopic surgery in select cases
• realignment surgery or osteotomy
• partial joint replacement – hemiarthroplasty
• total joint replacement such as Total Hip Replacement or Total Knee Replacement.

Mr Powell has completed post fellowship training in joint replacement surgery and his expertise in tumour reconstructive surgery has facilitated management of many complex revision surgeries for failed joint replacements.

Mr Powell has been a member of the Arthroplasty Society of Australia since 2002 and participates in audit of his results in the AOA National Joint Replacement Registry.

General Orthopaedics

Orthopaedic surgery is the branch of surgery dealing with the locomotor system – bones, muscles and joints. This includes management of:

• arthritis
• soft tissue and sports injuries – e.g. rotator cuff, tennis elbow, sprain etc.
• fractures
• nerve entrapment syndromes –  especially carpal tunnel syndrome
• benign tumours – e.g. lipoma, ganglion, schwannoma, osteochondroma, enchondroma, osteoid osteoma etc.

Mr Powell sees patients with complaints of hip, knee, shoulder, and elbow. He no longer performs ACL reconstruction and does not treat back injuries or paediatric disorders other than those for tumour.

Medicolegal conditions

Mr Powell is a Master Certified Independent Medical Examiner with the American College of Disablity Medicine  & the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners. He is certified in assessments AMA4, AMA5, AMA6 and Comcare.

At this time Mr Powell is not seeing clients for medicolegal assessments in his private practice