Northland Orthopaedic Centre Ltd

The Northland Orthopaedic Centre is a modern, purpose-built facility designed for the assessment of patients with disorders of bones and joints. It is located diagonally opposite Kensington Hospital.

The orthopaedic surgeons here provide a comprehensive service in orthopaedic surgery. They have all undergone extensive training in New Zealand and overseas before joining the centre. All have a long association with Whangarei and Kensington Hospitals.

Surgeons working through the centre include Bill Sanderson, David Lyon, Andrew Herbert, Gareth Laws, Marc Hirner, Margaret Pohl and Erin Ratahi.

Orthopaedic surgery has become very specialised in recent years, so each surgeon has been selected specifically for their area of expertise. These days, for example, you may see a specialist expert in a specific region of the body (eg shoulder or spine), or in the use of a particular technique - such as arthroscopy (keyhole surgery) or arthroplasty (joint replacement).

Less well known but equally important areas of expertise include musculoskeletal disorders of childhood and conditions affecting elite athletes.

The most common problems are accident related, eg torn ligaments (sprains) and tendons/muscles (strains), and problems associated with broken bones. Arthritis is another major area of concern, given our aging population.

Northland Orthopaedic Centre runs regular educational seminars highlighting the latest developments, in association with Arthritis New Zealand.

Just about every joint in the body can be replaced these days but the hip, knee and shoulder lead the way. The development of new bio-compatible materials and advances in implant design have been significant recent advances.