Cadaveric hand and wrist workshop, 2018

Master of Orthopaedic Surgery (MCh Orth) candidates took part in a cadaveric hand and wrist workshop on the afternoon of November 22nd, 2018. The inaugural workshop, originated and run by Mr Arpit Jariwala (Consultant Upper Limb and Trauma Surgeon & Honorary Clinical Reader), took place earlier in 2018 and was a huge success.

Mr Jariwala was assisted by his NHS colleagues, Mr Douglas Robinson, Mr Simon Johnson and Ms Kirsty Munro, who together demonstrated common hand and wrist approaches for different pathologies.

The workshop was organised by Professor Rami Abboud (MCh Orth Director) and Mrs Sheila MacDonald (MCh Orth Course Administrator) in conjunction with Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification (CAHID) where two cadaveric hand specimens were provided.

Surgical demonstrations included:

1. Carpal tunnel decompression procedure
2. Extended carpal tunnel for revision cases
3. Trigger thumb release
4. Trigger finger release
5. Flexor tendon in finger exposure with Brunner incision
6. FCR approach for distal radius fracture fixation
7. Henry forearm approach for middle and proximal radius fixation
8. Dorsal wrist approach for carpal surgery
9. De Quervain’s tenosynovectomy exposure
10. UCL ligament of thumb exposure and demonstration of laxity on its division
11. Dorsal approach for trapeziectomy
12. Dorsal finger approach for tendon repair.
13. Ulnar nerve exposure in the Guyon's canal

MCh (Orth) Dundee candidates enjoying some light refreshments prior to attending workshop.

Professor Abboud added:

“Once again we are indebted to our NHS colleagues and CAHID for their continued support of our MCh (Orth) course. Mr Jariwala gives his extremely valuable time freely in the support of our candidates and in helping them acquire as much surgical knowledge within this intensive programme, which he himself completed admirably in 2003. I must also recognise the excellent input from Mr Douglas Robinson, and Mr Simon Johnson and Ms Kirsty Munro who are new to our teaching Faculty who are both world recognised Derby Hand Fellowship trained”.

Dr Sandeep Prakash, a current MCh (Orth) candidate and participant of the workshop stated:

“Dear Mr Jariwala. The cadaver course was by far the most useful session in the curriculum to date. The teachers were patient and friendly enough to answer all our questions and show us the structures. It was particularly useful for the hand and wrist to which we are rarely exposed. It was well planned and organized to squeeze the best into the allotted time”.

Dr Russel Haque, a current MCh (Orth) candidate and participant of the workshop added:

“Dear Sir. I would like to thank you for arranging the fantastic cadaveric workshop on upper limb including wrist and hand today. I can confidently say that I have benefitted a lot from this workshop. The experience with Thiel embalmed cadavers were as good as it is in real life. Each one of us could dissect independently with plenty of time and ample guidance by really wonderful instructors, including yourself. Workshops such as today's are a better and more practical way of learning a surgical subject like Orthopaedics. I really look forward to participating in similar workshops in lower limb and arthroplasty in the coming semester”.

Please note that due to our strict adherence to Thiel copyright and legal agreement we are obviously restricted as to what imagery we can show in the public domain. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who generously bequeath their bodies to medical science for anatomical examination, research, and education and training. Without these generous individuals, research and future surgical understanding continues to advance.