Straightening the Crooked Skeleton
The metaphorical engraving of a straight stake tied to a crooked sapling decorated the frontispiece of the book Orthopédie by Nicolas Andry published in 1741. It was then a new term created by combining two Greek words: Orthos, which signifies straight, free from deformity, and Pais, a Child. Paediatric orthopaedics was undoubtly one of, if not the oldest subspecialty of our fraternity.
Our Mission and Vision
The team evolved over the past 40 years with a clear mission and vision: "to provide the highest quality service in patient care, research, education and teaching for medical students and postgraduate training". The team provides a comprehensive clinical service to all children and adolescents with Orthopaedic and Trauma related diseases excluding musculoskeletal oncology. The team at present run 9 specialized clinics and combined multidisciplinary clinics with more than 10,000 outpatients yearly. Being an academic unit, the team is also actively involved in all levels of undergraduate teaching and postgraduate training including clinical and research fellowships as well as basic and clinical research activities.
Our Special Clinics
Scoliosis Clinic
was established in 1986 has grown significantly over the years with the annual new patient referrals rising steadily to over 1,000 and an accumulated outpatient pool of over 25000 in 2025. The clinic is supported by EOS low dose biplanar whole spine X-ray radiograph, and an efficient orthotic and brace fitting service equipped with CAD-CAM technology.
Problem Lower Limb Clinic
takes care of all difficult lower limb problems: from congenital deformities, developmental anomalies, developmental dysplasia of the hip to limb length inequalities.
Combined Cerebral Palsy and Neuromuscular Clinic
is a joint clinic with the participation of paediatric neurologist, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and prosthetist orthotists. It serves as a tertiary referral clinic where the diagnosis, management, planning and rehabilitation programme will be discussed and formulated by the whole team. Special out-reaching clinics are also held by the team in special schools outside the Hospital. These include the Cerebral Palsy Clinic in Lung Hang Pre-school Centre, the Ko Fook Iu School and PineHill School.
Combined Muscular Dystrophy Clinic
is a 3 monthly joint clinic dedicated for these rare and challenging diseases. It provided a valuable platform for service, learning and teaching.
Combined Spina Bifida Clinic
is a special combined one-stop clinic made possible from concerted effort from Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeons, Paediatric Surgeons, Neurosurgeons, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, Prosthetist and Orthotist. This clinic is the first of its kind in Hong Kong and all patients will be seen by all parties together in the same clinic and the management plan would be discussed and recorded in a central record. This reduces greatly the number of clinic visits and allows a much better planning and efficient delivery of the treatment and care of the patients and their families.
Torticollis Clinic
is a special clinic that look after newborn babies with sternomastoid tumors to adolescent patients with muscular torticollis and other pathologies.
The General Paediatric Orthopaedic Clinic
receives referrals from general and specialist clinics, Maternity and Child Health Centres, Student Health Service and private clinics in the east New Territory covering over 1 million population and also tertiary referral from various other regions in Hong Kong. Same day ultrasonographic examination of newborn hips has been arranged with dedicated radiologist so that instant decision can be made. The instant screening together with the no-waiting appointment have helped greatly in cutting down the anxiety and transportation time of the families, not to mention allowing prompt treatment for needy children.
Paediatric Trauma Clinic
takes care of a big bulk of children trauma cases and is the busiest clinic of its kind throughout Hong Kong. The Clinic is equipped with instant low radiation portable screening X-ray machine. This has helped greatly in the immediate management of paediatric fractures and has thus significantly relieved the load for conventional radiographs.
Seating Clinic and Wheelchair Bank
for children with severe neuromuscular diseases. The clinic is established in 1995 and jointly run with the Rehabilitation Engineering Centre of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist and Prosthetic and Orthotic Service. The clinic would assess, design, modify, recommend and fit disabled patients with special seating requirements in a team effort. The Cathay Pacific Wheelchair Bank provides free special recirculated wheelchair and seating adaptation for needy families assessed by the Seating Clinic.
Surgery
Adolescent Idiopathic scoliosis corrective surgery using computer navigation and a surgical robot. Computer simulation and 3D-printing model before complex congenital paediatric spinal deformity surgery.
 Lower Limb Deformity Correction using Taylor Spatial Frame
Our Future Directions
On looking ahead, the team will strive to upkeep its commitment to "provide the highest quality service in patient care, research, education and teaching for medical students and postgraduate training". Further strategic development will be focused on the specialized tertiary services in Scoliosis surgery and complex limb lengthening and reconstruction. The team will also further enhance, develop and collaborate with its established link with prestigious institutions in mainland, Asia-pacific region and the world in the area of paediatric orthopaedics, scoliosis and related research.
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