All patients who attend Mr Balakumar will be assessed completely. Assessment includes history, examination, evaluation and investigations to confirm the diagnosis.
As part of the history for patients with hip problems, a hip questionnaire can help Mr Balakumar better understand your hip problem. It is often recommended that you download, complete and return the hip questionnaire via email.
(03) 9573 9659
Mr Balakumar will ask for your past history, including birth history, family history of hip dysplasia, perthes, slipped upper femoral epiphysis, and other paediatric hip disorders. The symptoms are then analysed for chronicity, via duration of symptoms, location of pain, radiation, aggravating and relieving factors. Associated symptoms are also enquired about.
Social history is also paramount, especially in guiding treatment. Sometimes asking your parents and close relatives or friends, may reflect how much your hip problem has been affecting you. This is the hardest but the most useful aspect of the assessment.
As part of the examination you will be required to undress to expose your hips, knees and ankles. Shorts or tights can be helpful, when evaluating the hip. Mr Balakumar is very experienced in examining infants through to adults. He will adjust his examination accordingly to make sure that the patient, whether a baby or a fully grown adult, is comfortable when being examined.
Once a provisional diagnosis is made, a combination of investigations, including X-rays are used to confirm the diagnosis. Mr Balakumar will often order a combination X-rays, MRIs, CT Scans and other imaging investigations to help confirm the diagnosis and plan treatment.
Mr Balakumar is one of a small number of surgeons in Australia with formal training in both paediatric and adult hip surgery. His fellowship at Harvard’s Children’s Hospital in Boston, under some of the world’s leading specialists in hip preservation, gives him a depth of expertise that is difficult to find in a single practice.
His approach is the same whether the patient is 6 months or 65 years old – thorough assessment, honest options, and no pressure toward surgery until the clinical picture clearly supports it.
(03) 9573 9659
