Dr Sam Martin

02/10/2022

Nearly home now- in beautiful Inverell.
(Hi and thanks for the support to all my patients from Inverell and surrounds over the years)
Made it across the desert in the car and back on the bike. It was a great adventure with great people for a good cause. Will be good to get home though!

24/09/2022

I am in Quilpie for lunch after breakfast at Mitchell on the way to the Simpson desert challenge.
Getting warmer!

https://www.facebook.com/SimpsonDesertBikeChallenge

16/09/2022

I am honoured to have been asked to give a presentation on day surgery total joint replacement to the Secretary of NSW health Susan Pearce on the 1st of October.

I am going to give some insights into the different parts of a program that need to go into it for it to be successful.

There are factors before the surgery including exercise, education and information as well as some logistical and planning components. There are also factors after the surgery like open communication channels.

It is important to highlight that there are also technique related factors that matter too. Some simple things like how and when local anaesthetic is injected really matter for example.

Unfortunately (or fortunately I’m not sure!) I’ll be out of contact, riding in the simpson desert fat bike challenge to raise money for the royal flying doctors on the day of the presentation.

I am going to pre record it and try to answer some questions over satellite sms. Not sure how the ride or the satellite sms will go. At least the prerecorded presentation should be a success!

https://simpson-desert-bike-challenge-2022.raisely.com/sam-martin

RFDS Community Fundraising : Make a donation today to support RFDS Community Fundraising

09/09/2022

I am excited and a bit nervous about riding in the Simpson desert 2 weeks from now to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctors Service and the amazing work they do for people living in remote areas.

The Simpson desert challenge is a 5 day cycling race over about 700 sand dunes and 500 km from Birdsville to Purni Bore. It’s going to be quite hard! I hope my knees aren’t too sore. Here is a link for any donations. Thanks!

https://simpson-desert-bike-challenge-2022.raisely.com/sam-martin

RFDS Community Fundraising : Make a donation today to support RFDS Community Fundraising

08/09/2022

Congratulations to Emma Jewell who was a recent medical student in Grafton!
The research paper we worked on regarding when to start the new strong blood thinners after hip and knee joint replacement surgery has been accepted for presentation at an international meeting (combined national Nz and Aus meetings)!
Thanks also to Corey Scholes at EBM for support with this project.
It’s great to see ideas and research from the regional and rural setting make waves more widely.

01/08/2022

One of the great things about medicine is teaching and working with junior doctors and medical students.

Emma Jewell is final year medical student from Wollongong that has recently completed a research project with me. Her work may help other orthopaedic surgeons to know when it is safe to start the newer strong blood thinners after joint replacement.

Congratulations to Emma on presenting this research to orthopaedic surgeons at the recent NSW Australian Orthopaedic Association Annual scientific meeting.

10/11/2021

It was great to get the opportunity today to present to other orthopaedic surgeons some of the things we have learned about day surgery total joint replacement.

Our presentation at the national Australian Orthopaedic meeting was well received with some interesting questions.

Thanks and congratulations to co-authors Michel Genon and Amanda Tutty and the team at EBM analytics!

27/09/2021

We had a great visit in the operating theatre yesterday from an Orthopaedic Surgeon and Anaesthetist from another area. They were interested in how joint replacements can be done in a way that hurts less and allows a faster recovery to the point that day surgery is possible.

It was a pleasure to be able to explain how that works and show them that day surgery is not only possible, but that for many patients, it’s actually a more comfortable and better overall experience than the typical longer hospital stay protocols.

The patient experience is the main thing, but lower cost and more efficient use of beds for full hospitals are benefits too. Self funded private patients are also a growing group. Day surgery joint replacement also helps bring the costs down there.

14/09/2021

It has been a challenging and thought provoking 18 months. After a lot of thought, I have decided to resign from Grafton Base Hospital at the end of this year to have more time with my family.

It has been a fantastic 10 years. The journey from the initiation of the orthopaedic service through to the present, where the department is a leading unit in short stay arthroplasty of some national significance has been very rewarding. Thank you for your support throughout.

I will continue to practice in my private rooms in Grafton and surrounds. I will be operating at Baringa Private Hospital, with a continued focus on hip and knee surgery. I also continue working to establish the Grafton Private Hospital.

We will try to minimise any disruption for public patients. Patients who are already on the waiting list will not need to do anything. As far as possible, I will work with the hospital to care for patients that are already booked for surgery. Alternatively, public patients can be offered surgery with one of my excellent colleagues or replacement. Attending the KAHAS clinic remains a very useful way to monitor for any significant deterioration.

After the 31st of December 2021, I won’t be able to fill out booking forms for elective surgery at Grafton Base Hospital any more. We will contact patients who currently have appointments booked next year to explain this and discuss alternatives. We would like to avoid the situation where someone waits for an appointment next year and then finds out the appointment wasn’t useful. Public patients who are waiting to see me, especially those with appointments next year who are considering surgery, are welcome to contact my clinic now to discuss this and how it might affect them.

I hope this will improve my capacity to provide more timely consultations in future.

Please contact me if you have any queries or concerns.

20/08/2021

There is quite a bit of COVID vaccine hesitancy or at least concern and consideration within our communities.

Vaccination really is our only way out of this. The development of these safe and effective vaccines within a short time frame is probably one of the greatest medical miracles ever. It is amazing that previously horrible and rapidly fatal conditions such as metastatic melanoma are now often treatable, but that only really effects patients and loved ones with metastatic melanoma.

The covid vaccines are a breakthrough for all of us. Yes there are (small) risks. There is no effective medical treatment or intervention for anything that doesn’t have a small risk. A COVID vaccine is very safe compared to other medical treatments or interventions. For example the Astra Zeneca vaccine is much safer than a knee replacement.

It’s interesting that sometimes people will gloss over the risks of surgery as something that is accepted so doesn’t need processing, but are concerned about the risks of comparably safe things like regular Panadol or now the covid vaccines.

A world in which COVID was a disease without an effective vaccine really doesn’t bear thinking about. Let’s all get vaccinated. Aim higher than 80%!

27/06/2021

I was asked by some of patients last week about the effect of the new Medicare numbers.

There seems to be a bit of confusion and concern about the effect that the changes will have.

In the public system, it shouldn’t make any difference. Care that is currently paid for by NSW health will continue to be paid for by the public hospital. It would be exceedingly unusual for a doctor to choose to charge a gap resulting in out of pocket cost to a patient covered in the public system. If a doctor was going to choose to charge a gap, they would need to make it very clear before commence of the treatment and you would have the option of seeing a different doctor.

In the private system there is also no concrete reason the changes should result in increased out of pocket costs for patients. In general, the changes are designed to update the item number schedule so that the available numbers reflect current practices.

In the private system, a doctor can charge a gap. This has always been the case. Please remember it is very reasonable to enquire about gaps at the beginning, before you start going down a treatment pathway. The discussion about out of pocket cost does not need to be left to the end. Patients are not obliged to proceed with a treatment if an out of pocket cost is too great. Doctors vary from charging no gap, through smaller what are called known or access gaps all the way up to very large gaps. If a gap seems to great, it is very reasonable to seek another doctor whose gap aligns more with your expectations. One of the points of the private system is that you can choose your doctor and the gap can be part of that choice.

07/05/2021

People sometimes ask what the difference is between a knee reconstruction and a knee replacement. Sometimes these two things get confused. They are really quite different.

A knee reconstruction would often be needed as a result of a sporting or similar injury to someone’s knee. The goal of the surgery is to stabilise ligament damage by repairing or grafting (reconstructing) a torn ligament. Usually the actual joint surfaces in the knee of someone having a knee reconstruction would be ok. This is often an operation for a somewhat younger age group than a knee replacement. The surgery is often done for giving way problems.

A knee replacement is generally undertaken for a worn out knee where the cartilage surfaces themselves are worn down to the bone. This procedure involves replacing the actual surface of the worn knee with a new surface. The ligaments would normally be ok in someone having a knee replacement. Even if the ligaments aren’t ok, it is usually not too much of an issue with modern techniques. Knee replacements are usually primarily done for knee pain.

There are big differences in the alternatives, preparation before, and rehabilitation after the procedures. Knee replacements are also quite a bit more commonly needed than reconstructions. That can be important as in the private system, some levels of health fund cover will cover less commonly needed knee reconstructions but not knee replacements. A typical item number for a reconstruction is 49539 and for a replacement it’s 49518. Those numbers can clear up discussions about levels of cover with health funds.

They are both effective treatments for the different problems they address, although risks always need to be considered. There is some further information at drsammartin.com along with some detailed information booklets about joint replacement to download.

Dr Sam Martin Hip and knee surgery = More about Dr Sam Martin Dr Sam Martin Hip and knee surgery = More about Dr Sam Martin Dr Sam Martin Hip and knee surgery = More about Dr Sam Martin ACL Reconstruction Hip Replacement Knee Replacement Hip and Knee Revision How to make an appointment If you are a....

30/03/2021

Good quality information is a key part of safe and comfortable joint replacement surgery- especially as length of stay gets shorter and we move toward day surgery replacements.

These books are the culmination of years of gradually improving patient information that I have been working on. Thanks very much to Amanda Tutty and everyone else that has helped.

They are available in our office or for download at

https://drsammartin.com/other-info/

I hope people find them helpful- a lot of work has gone into them!

15/02/2021

This is the same news story about the day surgery program that Dr Genon and I are involved in. This link is from the NSW health website for anyone (like me) that doesn’t use Twitter. Thanks again to everyone involved. It really is a team effort.

It starts at 18:49:30

http://link.newsletter.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=I2Wdgb2dNvcDaKDqS8pdtn1RxZkxkFYhBYInEHYVL16g97-2FvGQC8q-2FbwKwbiOHMTXfxRhs-2FwBfNWavs8eLoVL4c-2B4hYGuuyrMtoXB0eSuncMbr71bZ47acHLDRKXT4pb4ahpPXqZ4l-2F5r5oVxN7fwJuFra4fG6AW-2FdTtgdoOleMLWx1tW0529JrT9UwZn47BWm8X57-2FXl12w9jvOFBp-2BVDrBkEdAjtHWu31vhNoI3tU8Wmiaje5CG-2BJe71fkRiBkZXpdey5HRUfrAGWRllgkdDv2Jr8S351rV9RxjbloiCtjT-2B9JcvKUd0sko6cMw2dqjYUhpxQ-2B2IE3GL95dkdS-2BMYtFU8oH5xWJP8CdMna91gWnbRH8b8UKEsCunNt-2B-2B-2FbitSbEQlSmcls8GHEOHCWwwE3bZxxKh972Q7gqY1gq8WzDJKiWYdJ9ft3sIWxbdygGFKeoec83NezD8vrq8t8qsvxDNPtuUCqGUIv8k1SXEcq1eqDQC94tLpKTp2k-2BtcBiFzeK-2BRHuo1A86rDW01m4oY38XP-2BYNhs02ciHxxmbgcWXKRSs4MGf1mDBsLgazIaCKidlC5KuNIqaJu-2BjPJWgNW1BIhTLKKLkBb63P5BBlc7m1c18E2T4Apf3Oc42gref-2BjVe0jgpN1Xd8cy3J8QCGP9zlwiU-2FBKEDJamRgqej-2Fu4Pkdd8aRqnKDjznOL0gSFlsO_phcJM9ByNNX6Qh3ejjqXmgNgYQrOGWyrUjpcBCEVGcfXXWl9vIMfsoNPs5M2QGvGgo0-2Bv2OAyqbFQOdqrVD4z3fDjSqxNQy9lyNb3yoVT90FxaChiOQ5IZSeJWS1WvvTvp5AHf06gMGDV27ySYIb717VqGCrDkkvQMaWwXO6r6DjsEAGX-2FpsQwfITIB9jIWZjxfea1m4pKTU-2F2DBBnCui4gLSexx2pONA20jauAVdh1VhXzb059hP0n9-2FD7MRn2SYH4QIE5H581NTY-2FBWmymmzA6Wny-2FwrAAesJ7RsJiPaURv-2F3hW0NzRvwWKZBJaKwCU3gXJzAhcQTmMrrEeM3-2BpBn0M0knJN4jHCwy-2BQ1OaP8mx5yT4vbCQ87O75YU9emzfY04L3Vulbb9ELEe8RljwQ-3D-3D

13/02/2021

Some recent great further coverage of the day surgery joint replacement program at Grafton Base Hospital.

Thanks very much to everyone involved. The feedback from patients in the program so far has been very encouraging.

https://twitter.com/9NewsAUS/status/1360138105781690370?s=20

“ : Experts are advising many of those who undergo knee and hip replacements would benefit from leaving hospital within 24 hours of their operation, and one hospital is trialling exactly that. https://t.co/HhknUqlhZl”

18/12/2020

We had a meeting at the hospital on Wednesday where I gave an update about the day surgery program Dr Genon and I are involved in.

So far there have been 7 day surgery total knee replacement patients. Satisfaction levels are very high and pain levels have been consistently and strikingly low. Some preliminary results suggest that the day surgery patients might have less pain than if they were in hospital. That is both interesting and encouraging. Thanks very much to everyone involved for contributing to this success.

I presented these results at a national webinar run by the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association on Thursday with other panelist Prof Kehlet (an international expert from Denmark) and Dr Andrew Ellis (immediate past president of the Australian Orthopaedic Association) and Dr Allan Tyson and Amanda Tutty from grafton base hospital. Grafton Base Hospital was well represented! The presentation was well received with interesting questions.

Day surgery total joint replacement really does seem here to stay. It isn’t for everyone, but for appropriate candidates, how well it works almost is something you have to see to believe.

We are proposing to continue the pilot program for a few more months and open up the selection criteria very slightly based on what we have learned so far. I imagine in the future, what we think of as an appropriate candidate might be quite a reasonable proportion of joint replacement patients.

I hope everyone getting a break has a safe and restful one. It’s been a very difficult year for many people and some especially so. In health care the lead up to the end of the year has been very busy- hopefully things slow down a bit for those working over the holiday period. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 🎄🎆🏄‍♂️🏖☔️
It will be exciting to see what we can achieve with day surgery and enhanced recoveries in 2021.

All surgery has risks, results vary, I recommend seeking a second opinion before considering surgery

16/12/2020

I am excited to have been invited to be a panelist for a webinar tonight hosted by the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association.

It is titled “Day 0 discharge after knee and hip replacement: Is it worth it?”

I will give an update about the pilot program that Dr Michel Genon and I are participating in at Grafton Base Hospital. This has been proceeding well with very positive feedback from all involved. Thanks very much to everyone that has contributed to its success so far.

I would say yes, it’s worth It! Our experience and that from other centres is that day stay joint replacement is associated with high patient satisfaction and is safe. There are also clear benefits for the hospital. Interestingly there also seem to benefits for our non day stay patients. It’s fair to say that day surgery joint replacement isn’t for everyone, and we have noticed that in general all of our patients are experiencing more rapid recoveries since we initiated the day stay program.

Grafton Base Hospital is well represented in the webinar with Amanda Tutty and Dr Allan Tyson also taking part as panelists. Both Allan and Amanda have been closely involved in the day stay program.

Amanda will present the NSW health video describing the experience of our first two patients.

https://www.facebook.com/northernnswlocalhealthdistrict/videos/in-and-out-in-one-day-after-surgery/2689935997926942/

The link to the webinar is below

https://ahha.asn.au/events/webinar-day-0-discharge-after-knee-and-hip-replacement-it-worth-it

All surgery has risks and results vary. I recommend seeking a second opinion before considering invasive procedures.