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Hand Surgery in New Zealand Reproduced from the Journal of Hand and Microsurgery with the permission of the Editor and Authors 4 ReviewHand Surgery Article in New Zealand Patel et al. Hand Surgery in New Zealand Sandeep C. Patel1 Karen Smith2 Khalid D. Mohammed3,4 1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Waikato Hospital, Hamilton, Address for correspondence Sandeep Chhaganlal Patel, MBChB, New Zealand FRACS, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Waikato Hospital, 2Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, 183 Pembroke Street, Hamilton 3204, New Zealand Middlemore Hospital, Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand (e-mail: [email protected]). 3University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand 4Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Christchurch and Burwood Hospitals, Christchurch, New Zealand J Hand Microsurg:2021;13:4–9 Abstract Hand surgery in New Zealand has steadily grown from its origins in plastic surgery and orthopaedic surgery into its own discipline. There has been much progress and innovation in hand surgery that has originated from New Zealand and this review acknowledges the historical figures and events that have led to our present position. Keywords The current and future directions of hand surgery in our country are also discussed. ► hand surgery As a small and remote country, we are very fortunate to have close relationships with ► orthopaedic surgery other international hand societies. Through these relationships and the efforts of com- ► plastic surgery mitted regional hand surgeons, the art and science of hand surgery in New Zealand ► New Zealand continues to progress. Introduction hand/wrist and plastic hand surgeons providing a compre- hensive hand surgical service. As with many countries, hand surgery in New Zealand has its In the regional areas, generalist orthopaedic services con- roots in both plastic surgery and orthopaedic surgery com- tinue to provide hand surgery, referring more complex pathol- mencing in the middle 20th century. Regional plastic surgical ogy to the regional centers. units developed from the 1940s onward. In 1943, Burwood As a small country of 5 million, hand surgery in New Hospital in Christchurch became the home of New Zealand’s Zealand continues to be delivered by plastic and orthopaedic first plastic surgery unit. Dr William Manchester returned to surgeons, but increasingly by those who have undergone fur- Burwood Hospital initially to form this unit and then went on ther specialty training and are now dedicated hand surgeons. to establish the plastic surgery unit in Middlemore Hospital in Auckland in 1950. Since then, there has been steady growth Key Figures in the History of Hand Surgery in in plastics subspecialization with there now being five New Zealand regional plastic surgery centers in our larger cities (Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin). Historically as a small and remote country with a young med- Orthopaedic surgery developed as a more widespread ical school, New Zealand did not offer postgraduate medical specialty from the 1940s. By the 1970s, orthopaedic depart- training in the beginning of the 20th century and due to its ments in large city hospitals were subspecializing into their historical ties to Britain, many young New Zealand surgeons more individual disciplines, while in the small cities of the would travel to Britain (and later to the United States) to fur- regional areas, orthopaedic surgeons remained more general. ther their training. Hand surgery therefore evolved, in the larger centers Sir Harold Gillies and Sir Archibald McIndoe were where plastic and orthopaedic surgeons with an inter- both notable surgeons of New Zealand origin. Gillies and est in hand surgery, developed a hand service, within their McIndoe are considered pioneers in plastic surgery who own subspecialty. Eventually, this lead to the formation, in developed and honed their techniques in Europe during Auckland and Christchurch of dedicated Hand and Upper World War I and World War II. Sir William Manchester Limb surgical units, comprising specialized orthopaedic trained with both Gillies and McIndoe and would go on published online © 2020. Society of Indian Hand & DOI https://doi.org/ December, 31, 2020 Microsurgeons. All rights reserved. 10.1055/s-0040-1721568 Thieme Medical and Scientific ISSN 0974-3227. Publishers Pvt. Ltd., A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India Hand Surgery in New Zealand Patel et al. 5 to establish plastic surgery in Christchurch and Auckland. Zealand in the 1970s. In the Auckland region, early surgeons These surgeons and others of this time contributed greatly included M.W. Manchester, W. Pike, O. Nicholson, J. Cullen, to the history of plastic surgery, forming the foundation of E. Brown and J. Williams; in the Wellington region M.F. modern plastic surgery and hand surgery in New Zealand. Hutter, C. Bossley, and M. Lovie; in the Canterbury region M.J. Meanwhile orthopaedic surgeons in New Zealand would Lester, G. Blake, A. Rothwell, and S. Sinclair; and in the Otago gravitate toward hand surgery from the 1970s onward as region Prof. N. Nisbet and A. McKenzie.7 hand surgery was already established as a discipline world- Orthopaedic surgeon Chris Bossley of Wellington recalls wide at this time. his personal journey into hand surgery and was serendip- itously driven both by the demand for hand services and Sir Harold Gillies (1882–1960) his interest in this discipline. When Bossley returned from Sir Harold Gillies was born in Dunedin in New Zealand in 1882. 4 years in Britain in 1972, he was instructed that there was He went on to study at Cambridge University in England in 1901. no one performing hand surgery in the southern half of the Gillies was 32 years old when the World War I broke out and North Island, and he was assigned to the rheumatoid unit in during this time he was first exposed to tissue transfer surgery Wellington. Once he established his practice there, he found by French surgeons. Gillies was to become Britain’s first plastic himself busy there from the moment he started. Like others in surgeon and was tasked with the responsibility of establishing their respective regions around this time, Chris Bossley ded- the Cambridge military hospital. Gillies was a brilliant and cre- icated his career to furthering hand surgery in New Zealand ative surgeon who was driven by the aims of restoring function by teaching and fostering future surgeons into this discipline. and improving aesthetics after significant injury or disfigure- Earle Brown, plastic surgeon, recalls that in these early ment. He became one of the founding fathers of the newly days they had to be innovative drawing inspiration from the established discipline of plastic surgery. As a highly innova- jewelry trade to use binocular loupes and jeweler’s forceps tive and pioneering surgeon, he went on to develop many new which were much finer than the plastic surgery instruments techniques in plastic surgery and was involved in training hun- of the time. These fine instruments were to become essential dreds of surgeons from various countries, including many from in the emerging field of microsurgery at that time. New Zealand.1-3 Emeritus Professor Alistair Rothwell Sir Archibald McIndoe (1900–1960) Alastair Rothwell was appointed as a consultant orthopaedic Sir Archibald McIndoe was also born in Dunedin. In 1925, he surgeon in Dunedin with a special interest in hand surgery was awarded a fellowship to the Mayo Clinic in the United States in 1973. At the time, he had minimal training in hand sur- of America where he developed a reputation as a quick think- gery and like other New Zealand surgeons of this era, had to ing and skilled surgeon. He moved to London, England, in 1930 self-train by attending international courses and conferences. where he worked under Sir Harold Gillies and he too quickly A consequence of having not completed a formal hand fel- became a leading figure in the field of plastic surgery. McIndoe lowship meant he was unfettered by dogma, giving him the established plastic surgical centers to treat soldiers and airmen freedom to innovate. An example of this was developing his disfigured and injured with burns to the face and hands.3,4 own successful technique for repair of chronic posttraumatic boutonniere deformity.8 He was interested in surgery for Sir William Manchester (1913–2001) rheumatoid arthritis and he was able to focus on this when Sir William Manchester was born in South Canterbury and he moved to Christchurch in 1982, as a senior lecturer, where joined the New Zealand Medical Corps in 1940. That same he established parallel clinics with the Rheumatologists over year, he was seconded for training in plastic and recon- the next 25 years. Another of his major contributions was structive surgery under Sir Harold Gillies and Sir Archibald in procedures for the restoration of upper limb function in McIndoe in Britain. After the World War II, Sir William tetraplegia at Burwood Hospital. This surgery commenced returned to the Burwood Military Hospital in Christchurch in 1983 in partnership with Stewart Sinclair, plastic surgeon, in 1944 and then went on to set up the Plastic Surgical Unit after a visit from Mr Douglas Lamb from Edinburgh who was at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland in 1950. Over the next a pioneer for such techniques. 30 years Sir William would run the Plastic Surgical Unit at Over his career, Alastair Rothwell made vast contributions Middlemore Hospital in Auckland, helping it to achieve inter- to hand surgery in New Zealand. He was a foundation exec- national acclaim. Sir William made a profound contribution utive member of the New Zealand Society for Surgery of the to surgery in New Zealand by establishing plastic surgery as Hand (NZSSH) and was President of this society from 1980 to a discipline and he was one of the key figures in the legacy of 1982. In 2014, the NZSSH instituted the Alastair Rothwell hand surgery in this country.5,6 Lecture to be delivered at its biennial Scientific Meeting of the Society by a guest speaker in recognition of his contri- Early New Zealand Hand Surgeons bution to hand surgery in New Zealand.
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