BSSH Revalidation Session: Preventing & Managing Complications in the Treatment of Distal Radius Fractures

8.30am – 10am BST, 17 September 2025 ‐ 1 hour 30 mins

Room: Room 4

Specialist Society

Session Title: Preventing & Managing Complications in the Treatment of Distal Radius Fractures

Session Description: Distal radius fractures (DRF) are one of the most commonly encountered injuries in orthopaedic surgery. In this session badged by the BSSH we review the decision-making processes about how to best treat DRFs and key points in the consent process. Surgical approaches the radius and how to safely place metalwork and avoid common complications such as screw penetration are reviewed as well as how to treat associated injuries with distal radius fractures. We then review the management of tendon complications and the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome after DRFs.

Co-Chairs: Kalpesh R Vaghela, Ian McNab and Rob Poulter

Agenda:

08:30 - 08:50: An Overview of Complications Post Distal Radius Fracture & How to Avoid Them – Ian McNab

08:50 - 09:05: Safe Surgical Approaches to the Distal Radius – Suan Khor

09:05 - 09:25: Spotting and Preventing Screw Penetration & Managing Tendon Complications – Kalpesh Vaghela

09:25 - 09:45: Associated Injuries Not to Miss: SL Ligament, Ulna Styloid & Volar Ulna Rim – Kunal Kulkarni

09:45 - 10:00: Managing Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) After DRF – Kate Brown

10:00 - 10:30: Q & A Panel Discussion

Speakers

Kalpesh Vaghela

Consultant Hand & Wrist Surgeon, Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust

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Kate Brown

Consultant Hand & Peripheral Nerve Surgeon, Pulvertaft Hand Centre, Royal Derby Hospital

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Suan Khor

Consultant Hand & Wrist Surgeon, Whittington Health NHS Trust

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Kunal Kulkarni

Consultant Hand & Wrist Surgeon, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

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Rob Poulter

Consultant Hand & Wrist Surgeon, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

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Ian McNab

Consultant Hand and Wrist Surgeon, Oxford University Hospitals, BOA Hon Treasurer

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Kalpesh Vaghela

Consultant Hand & Wrist Surgeon, Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust

Kalpesh is a Consultant Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon with a specialist interest in Hand & Wrist Surgery based at the Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust.

Kalpesh read medicine at Imperial College London and completed a BSc in Surgical Sciences graduating with 1st class honours. He completed specialist orthopaedic training on the prestigious Percivall Pott rotation. Kalpesh then undertook the Training Interface Group (TIG) integrated orthoplastics hand surgery fellowship at the Pulvertaft Hand Centre, Derby and gained international experience at the world-renowned Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia. He has been awarded the BSSH Travelling fellowship attending the Institute Kaplan in Barcelona, Spain and the ASSH International Fellowship to attend centres of excellence in the USA learning from some of the world's pioneering surgeons.

Kalpesh has obtained dual diploma qualification in hand surgery completing both the European and British diplomas the latter of which he was awarded the Vivien Lees Gold Medal. He has completed an MSc in Medical Education at UCL and was awarded the Robert Jones Medal & Association Prize by the BOA.

His main interests are medical education, trauma and wrist arthroscopy.

Kate Brown

Consultant Hand & Peripheral Nerve Surgeon, Pulvertaft Hand Centre, Royal Derby Hospital

Miss Kate Brown graduated from Oxford Medical School in 2002. She trained in orthopaedic surgery in the North East Thames region before obtaining her FRCS (Trauma and Orthopaedics) in 2014.

She completed her post CCT Hand Fellowship in Derby and was successful in the British Diploma of Hand Surgery in 2017, prior to being appointed as a Hand Consultant in April 2018.

She has a sub-specialist interest in Brachial Plexus and Peripheral Nerve Injuries and spent a year at the PNI unit at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore whilst in training.

She is a Lt Col in the Armed Forces and has completed tours of duty in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. She maintains her trauma clinical skills as a Major Trauma Consultant at the Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham.

She has completed an MSc (Swansea) in Trauma and MPhil (Newcastle) and has publications in military and hand trauma.

Suan Khor

Consultant Hand & Wrist Surgeon, Whittington Health NHS Trust

Ms Suan Khor is a Consultant Orthopaedic Hand and Wrist surgeon currently working at the Whittington Hospital.

She qualified from Imperial College School of Medicine and completed her post-graduate Trauma and Orthopaedic speciality training on the prestigious Percivall Pott rotation based out of the Royal London Hospital. She has been internationally fellowship trained at the Hand and Upper Extremity Unit in Vancouver, Canada as well as at the Orthoplastics Hand Unit at the Salford Royal Hospital, in Manchester and Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital. She has also obtained the European Diploma of Hand Surgery.

Her expertise lies in injuries and fractures of the hand and wrist in addition to elective hand conditions such as arthritis, Dupuytren’s disease, ganglions, trigger fingers, nerve compression syndromes such as cubital and carpal tunnel syndromes.

She is dedicated to delivering excellent patient-centred care by keeping up to date with the latest developments in hand and wrist surgery and working together with a dedicated team of hand therapists. She has authored several book chapters and published research, as well as having presented nationally and inMs Suan Khor is a Consultant Orthopaedic Hand and Wrist surgeon currently working at the Whittington Hospital.

She qualified from Imperial College School of Medicine and completed her post-graduate Trauma and Orthopaedic speciality training on the prestigious Percivall Pott rotation based out of the Royal London Hospital. She has been internationally fellowship trained at the Hand and Upper Extremity Unit in Vancouver, Canada as well as at the Orthoplastics Hand Unit at the Salford Royal Hospital, in Manchester and Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital. She has also obtained the European Diploma of Hand Surgery.

Her expertise lies in injuries and fractures of the hand and wrist in addition to elective hand conditions such as arthritis, Dupuytren’s disease, ganglions, trigger fingers, nerve compression syndromes such as cubital and carpal tunnel syndromes.

She is dedicated to delivering excellent patient-centred care by keeping up to date with the latest developments in hand and wrist surgery and working together with a dedicated team of hand therapists. She has authored several book chapters and published research, as well as having presented nationally and internationally.

Kunal Kulkarni

Consultant Hand & Wrist Surgeon, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

Mr Kunal Kulkarni is a substantive Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. His sub-specialist practice at Nuffield Health Leicester encompasses the breadth of elective and trauma hand and wrist surgery. He sees both, adults and children in his hand and wrist clinic.

He received his medical degree from the University of Oxford and has since completed his surgical training across the Oxford, London, and Midlands training regions. He is fellowship trained, having completed a post-CCT Senior Clinical Hand Fellow post at the internationally renowned Pulvertaft Hand Centre in Derby. He has also undertaken a competitively awarded British Orthopaedic Association Travelling Fellowship at Ganga Hospital in Coimbatore, India – one of the world's leading ortho-plastic surgical centres.

Mr Kulkarni is one of only a select few hand and wrist surgeons in the UK who is dual certified with both British and European Diplomas in Hand Surgery. He is an approved British Hand Diploma tutor and Leicester TIG senior hand fellow lead.

Rob Poulter

Consultant Hand & Wrist Surgeon, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

Mr. Rob Poulter is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon with a decade of experience in the treatment of hand and wrist conditions that impact bony and soft tissues, including carpal tunnel syndrome, Dupuytren's contracture, skin cancer, and entrapment. He sees private patients at the Ramsay Health Duchy Hospital.

Mr. Poulter graduated from the Royal Free Hospital, School of Medicine, and went on to undertake his basic and specialist orthopaedic training in the Southwest of England. He later gained the opportunity to undertake various sought-after national and international hand and peripheral nerve fellowships, in Nottingham, Melbourne, and Sydney.

Since his Consultant appointment in 2011, Mr. Poulter has centred his practice around clearly communicating with his patients and his colleagues, to ensure patients receive an excellent standard of care from the team, as a whole. He is also actively involved in the medical education community, teaching national hand surgery courses and working as an academic tutor for medical students at the University of Exeter.

Ian McNab

Consultant Hand and Wrist Surgeon, Oxford University Hospitals, BOA Hon Treasurer

Mr Ian McNab is a specialist in the treatment of a full range of hand conditions, including: carpal tunnel syndrome, tendon problems, hand and wrist injuries and arthritis. His super-specialist interest is in the treatment of complex wrist problems including scaphoid fractures, fracture non-unions, wrist arthroscopy, and small joint replacements in the hand.

Mr McNab trained at the London Hospital Medical College, University of London as an undergraduate and subsequently in orthopaedic surgery at St Bartholomew's Hospital. He completed his rotation in: Stanmore, Essex, Norwich, Great Ormond Street, and at the Royal London Hospital, obtaining the certificate of completion of specialist training in trauma and orthopaedic surgery in 1999. His specialist fellowship training was undertaken in hand and upper limb surgery in Oxford and then during a year spent in Melbourne, Australia. Mr McNab was appointed as a specialist Consultant Hand Surgeon at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and John Radcliffe Hospital in 2000

Teaching and academic appointments are: Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology & Musculoskeletal Science, University of Oxford and as an honorary lecturer in clinical medicine at Wadham College, University of Oxford.

Other key professional and post graduate education and training positions include: Supervisor & Head of Training for the Oxford Hand Fellowship Programme, Council member and member of the Research & Audit Group of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, member of the Professional Practice Committee of the British Orthopaedic Association, Orthopaedic Sub-Committee Chairman for the British Medical Association Central Consultants and Specialists Committee.