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Orthopaedics

We diagnose and treat a broad range of musculoskeletal problems.
About

As well as providing general pediatric orthopaedic services, we offer specialized clinics for children with scoliosis and spinal deformities, neuromuscular diseases, leg length discrepancies, musculoskeletal oncology, and traumas. Our programs and services are available to BC children and adolescents. 

All our orthopaedic surgeons provide emergency call for patients who suffer a traumatic injury. These patients are seen for follow-up in the surgeon's respective trauma clinic. These clinics include patients who have suffered broken bones from bicycle accidents, car accidents, monkey bar falls, sprained ankles from sport injuries and other injuries. Children from all over the province may be brought to our emergency department depending upon the severity of their injuries and the availability of orthopedic specialists in their home community.

If seen in BC Children's Hospital Emergency, for your follow-up appointment please call:  (604) 875-2345, Extension 7134 (Trauma Booking Clerk).

Non-urgent trauma referrals can be faxed to (604) 875-2275.

 
 

Thousands of children attend the clinics annually.

The health care team has several surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists, an occupational therapist, researchers, orthopedic technologists, and several support staff. These specialists work in conjunction with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. 

The Orthopedics Department has both surgeons and researchers. Many of the surgeons have specialties within orthopedics in which they conduct research. The department is composed of surgeons, researchers, two orthopedic technologists, a clinic nurse and many valuable support staff. 

Chris Reilly (MD, FRCSC) (Department Head)
Richard Beauchamp (MD,FRCSC) 
Christine Alvarez (MD, FRCSC, MSc) 
Kishore Mulpuri (MBBS, MSc(Ortho), MHSc(Epi))
Firoz Miyanji (MD, FRCSC)
Dr. Anthony Cooper, MD, MBChB, FRCS(TR & Ortho)
Dr. Ravi Ghag, MD, FRCS(C)
Nurse Clinician
Research Associates

Dr. Chris Reilly(Deparment Head)

Dr. Chris Reilly is the Head of the Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics. He completed his fellowship in Pediatric Orthopaedics at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas before joining the orthopaedic group at Children's. His interests lie primarily in spinal deformities and athletic injuries. Dr. Reilly is the orthopaedic consultant to the Neuromuscular Clinic. His current areas of research include spinal deformities and the functional and surgical outcomes surrounding ligament reconstruction in the knee.

 

Dr. Richard Beauchamp 


 
Dr. Richard Beauchamp has been a member of the active staff of BC Children’s Hospital in the Department of Orthopaedics since 1978. He is also on the visiting staff of the Kootenay Lake District Hospital in Nelson and the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Victoria. The focus of his practice is primarily neuromuscular diseases specializing in meningomyelocoele and cerebral palsy. He conducts out-reach clinics for children with special needs at the Centre for Ability in Vancouver and the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Victoria. Dr. Beauchamp has been responsible for the formation of a Botox program for management of children with spasticity. He is also a member of the Spasticity Assessment Clinic at BCCH and is Director of the Amputee Clinic at BCCH. He is the Medical Director of the Shriners Gait Lab located at Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children. His role includes patient selection for gait assessment, clinical interpretation of the analyses and research for children with various walking difficulties. He has recently been appointed to the Classification Committee of the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association.
 

Dr. Christine Alvarez 

   

Dr. Christine Alvarez completed her orthopaedic residency at the University of Western Ontario in London and her medical training at the University of British Columbia. Since joining the team at Children’s, she has completed a Masters of Surgery in Molecular Biology. Dr. Alvarez is the Medical Director of the Shriners Gait Lab located at Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children. Her role includes patient selection for gait assessment, clinical interpretation of the analyses and research for children with various walking difficulties. Dr. Alvarez has been responsible for the formation of the Clubfoot Clinic and the Hereditary Multiple Exostoses (HME) Clinic. Dr. Alvarez’s current areas of research include clubfoot, HME and trauma.

Dr. Kishore Mulpuri

   

Dr. Kishore Mulpuri joins the team as a staff surgeon and epidemiologist following his medical and residency training at Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, India. He has completed two fellowships: one year at the Melbourne Orthopaedic Group in Australia and one year at Children’s. He has also completed a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from the University of British Columbia. Dr. Mulpuri’s areas of research interest include paediatric sports injuries, deformity correction and outcomes research.

Dr. Firoz Miyanji

Dr Miyanji completed his medical school training at the University of Ottawa. He joined the UBC Orthopaedic Residency Program in 1999 and graduated in 2004. He then completed a one year spine fellowship at Toronto Western Hospital and a one year pediatric orthopaedic fellowship at San Diego Children’s Hospital. Dr Miyanji joins the orthopaedic group in providing emergency and elective orthopaedic care at Children’s Hospital. He and Dr Reilly will provide a combined spinal clinic and operative spinal care service. Dr. Miyanji's areas of research interest include spine and outcomes research. 

Dr. Anthony Cooper



Dr. Anthony Cooper graduated from the University of Leeds’ School of Medicine in 2003. He did his basic surgical training in Leeds and then moved to Sheffield for his higher surgical training. His pediatric orthopaedic fellowship was at BC Children's Hospital. His area of interest is limb reconstruction and hip surgery. Dr. Cooper will be providing the bone tumour service in conjunction with Dr. Paul Clarkson. He has a keen interest in research, with ongoing projects in conjunction with other colleagues in the department, the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, and other orthopaedic centers around the world.

Dr. Ravi Ghag

 

Dr. Ravi Ghag received his Doctor of Medicine degree and completed a residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine. He has acquired a Masters of Science in Health Economics Policy and Management from the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom. Dr. Ghag joined the BC Children's Hospital Orthopaedic team this year after completing a fellowship in Pediatric and Adult Spinal Surgery at the Oxford University Spine Unit in Oxford, United Kingdom. His clinical interests include management of pediatric spinal deformity and back pain. His research areas of interest include surgical outcomes and economic analyses of surgical intervention.

Nurse Clinician

Cory Savitsky

Cory Savitsky is the nurse in the Orthopaedic Clinic. She provides education for orthopaedic patients and their families in both the outpatient clinic and the inpatient unit. Ms. Savitsky coordinates care for complex cases. She also provides nursing support to specific orthopaedic clinics, including the Botox Clinic.

Orthopaedic Technologists

Fidel Brooks




Ricardo Botia 



Fidel Brooks and Ricardo Botia are the Orthopedic technologists at Children's. Mr. Brooks and Mr. Botia have extensive training in orthopaedics and medicine. 

Research Associates

Sameer Desai
Sameer Desai, MSc (in progress) provides research support to Dr. Miyanji, Dr. Ghag and Dr. Reilly. Our primary research focus is on scoliosis outcomes (curvature of the spine).

Email: Sameer.Desai@cw.bc.ca


Harpreet Chhina
Harpreet Chhina, MSc, provides research support to Dr. Alvarez in the areas of clubfoot and HME. Harpreet is a research coordinator that comes to us with a graduate degree in anatomy.  
Email: hchhina@cw.bc.ca

Jamil Devsi




Jamil is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology and Computer Science at UBC and is on a co-operative work placement at Children’s. He provides research support for Dr. Mulpuri in areas of trauma and hips.

Carly Jones
Carly is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics at UBC and is on a co-operative work placement at Children’s. She is working on several multi-disciplinary research projects under Dr. Mulpuri in the area of childhood hip disorders.

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Hospital Resources:

A-Z Health Pamphlets
BCCH Pain Service 

Community Resources:

  

The Cerebral Palsy Association of BC

Dance without Limits

The Cerebral Palsy Association of BC is offering dance classes for children with CP. Starts Sept 23rd. See attached brochure for all the details!

Exciting News for Students with Cerebral Palsy

We are proud to announce that the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC is offering 10 bursaries of $1,000 each to any eligible student with CP that is 17 years or older and planning to attend a post secondary institution or training program during the following year.

Please advise any students with Cerebral Palsy of the availability of these funds. Applications must be postmarked no later than July 15, 2013. Download the application now!

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact our office at (604) 408-9484. Good luck to you all!

 

Reaching for the Stars

Launched in late 2005 by two mothers in Atlanta, Georgia, “Reaching for the Stars. A Foundation of Hope for Children with Cerebral Palsy”(RFTS, Inc.) has grown into the largest North American pediatric Cerebral Palsy nonprofit foundation led by parents, with a focus on thePrevention, Treatment and Cure of Cerebral Palsy.

Childhood Disability LINK

LINK (Linking Information and New Knowledge) and the Cerebral Palsy project of NeuroDevNet have partnered to develop bilingual newsletters on ‘hot topics’ in Cerebral Palsy research that are relevant for families and for clinicians. They have limited technical jargon and provide an overview of what is known on a particular research area and how the information may be used in practice.


President's Choice Children's Charity


We're committed to helping kids. Whether we’re providing support to children with special needs or ensuring hungry tummies are filled with nutritious food, we want to make sure kids have every opportunity to live to their full potential.

 




About Botox

Botox is the registered trademark for Botulinum.  


A child with spastic muscles (tightness) may find it hard to move. As the child gets older, contracture (permanent tightness) of the muscles can lead to deformities of the spine and limbs. Usually spasticity is treated with physiotherapy, bracing, and surgery. Botox injections are another way to deal with muscle spasticity.


How Botox works

The “tone” of a muscle – how floppy or tight it is – depends on the nerve impulses (messages) which reach the muscle from the brain. These messages are carried by chemicals in the nerves to that muscle. Botox is a substance which blocks the chemical message before it can enter the muscle. In this way it prevents the muscle tightening which produces spasticity. The “block” is most effective 1-2 weeks after the injections. Three to six months later the spasticity usually returns. Botox does not cure spasticity. 

 

The benefits of Botox

  1. Botox helps to relax muscles and decrease muscle tone. This helps to prevent contractures for improved function and ability to move the joint through the full range of motion. There are times when botox is used to delay the need for surgery, your child’s surgeon will make that decision.

  2. Botox is also useful to improve the tolerance of wearing a brace or splint. Bracing a relaxed muscle helps prevent contractures.

 

How Botox is given

Your child will be given Botox injections by your child’s orthopedic surgeon in the Orthopedic Clinic or Operating Room. When given in the clinic, the area that the Botox will be given is covered with a cream called “Emla” which numbs the skin. The orthopedic surgeon injects Botox through the skin into the spastic muscle using a very fine needle. Most children are afraid of needles so we do our best to make the injections easy. If needed, the orthopedic surgeon will discuss giving the botox injections in the operating room. 

 

After Botox injections

Your child can go back to his/her usual activities. Avoid bicycle riding or climbing for a few days-your child might be a little unsteady. Some children require a cast to help stretch out tendons and muscles. The cast is usually left on for 3-4 weeks after the injections. Your child can continue with his/her therapy program while casted. After the cast is removed, his/her therapist can work to stretch the muscle that was injected, strengthen other muscles and encourage new skills.

 




Prepare


Resources


Hospital Resources:

A-Z Health Pamphlets
BCCH Pain Service 

Community Resources:

  

The Cerebral Palsy Association of BC

Dance without Limits

The Cerebral Palsy Association of BC is offering dance classes for children with CP. Starts Sept 23rd. See attached brochure for all the details!

Exciting News for Students with Cerebral Palsy

We are proud to announce that the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC is offering 10 bursaries of $1,000 each to any eligible student with CP that is 17 years or older and planning to attend a post secondary institution or training program during the following year.

Please advise any students with Cerebral Palsy of the availability of these funds. Applications must be postmarked no later than July 15, 2013. Download the application now!

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact our office at (604) 408-9484. Good luck to you all!

 

Reaching for the Stars

Launched in late 2005 by two mothers in Atlanta, Georgia, “Reaching for the Stars. A Foundation of Hope for Children with Cerebral Palsy”(RFTS, Inc.) has grown into the largest North American pediatric Cerebral Palsy nonprofit foundation led by parents, with a focus on thePrevention, Treatment and Cure of Cerebral Palsy.

Childhood Disability LINK

LINK (Linking Information and New Knowledge) and the Cerebral Palsy project of NeuroDevNet have partnered to develop bilingual newsletters on ‘hot topics’ in Cerebral Palsy research that are relevant for families and for clinicians. They have limited technical jargon and provide an overview of what is known on a particular research area and how the information may be used in practice.


President's Choice Children's Charity


We're committed to helping kids. Whether we’re providing support to children with special needs or ensuring hungry tummies are filled with nutritious food, we want to make sure kids have every opportunity to live to their full potential.

 
Tab Heading

As well as providing general pediatric orthopaedic services, we offer specialized clinics for children with scoliosis and spinal deformities, neuromuscular diseases, leg length discrepancies, musculoskeletal oncology, and traumas. 

All the orthopedic surgeons at Children's do emergency call for patients who suffer traumatic injuries. These patients are seen for follow-up in the surgeon's respective trauma clinic. These clinics include patients who have suffered broken bones from bicycle accidents, car accidents, monkey bar falls, sprained ankles from sport injuries and other injuries. Children from all over the province may be brought to our emergency department depending upon the severity of their injuries and the availability of orthopedic specialists in their home community.

If seen in BC Children's Hospital Emergency, for your follow-up appointment please call:  (604) 875-2345, Extension 7134 (Trauma Booking Clerk).

Non-urgent trauma referrals can be faxed to (604) 875-2275.
 

Our programs and services are available to BC children and adolescents. Thousands of children attend the clinics annually. 

Associations 

               

The Cerebral Palsy Association of BC

Dance without Limits

The Cerebral Palsy Association of BC is offering dance classes for children with CP. Starts Sept 23rd. See attached brochure for all the details!

Exciting News for Students with Cerebral Palsy

We are proud to announce that the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC is offering 10 bursaries of $1,000 each to any eligible student with CP that is 17 years or older and planning to attend a post secondary institution or training program during the following year.

Please advise any students with Cerebral Palsy of the availability of these funds. Applications must be postmarked no later than July 15, 2013. Download the application now!

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact our office at (604) 408-9484. Good luck to you all!

 

Reaching for the Stars

Launched in late 2005 by two mothers in Atlanta, Georgia, “Reaching for the Stars. A Foundation of Hope for Children with Cerebral Palsy”(RFTS, Inc.) has grown into the largest North American pediatric Cerebral Palsy nonprofit foundation led by parents, with a focus on thePrevention, Treatment and Cure of Cerebral Palsy.

Childhood Disability LINK

LINK (Linking Information and New Knowledge) and the Cerebral Palsy project of NeuroDevNet have partnered to develop bilingual newsletters on ‘hot topics’ in Cerebral Palsy research that are relevant for families and for clinicians. They have limited technical jargon and provide an overview of what is known on a particular research area and how the information may be used in practice.


President's Choice Children's Charity


We're committed to helping kids. Whether we’re providing support to children with special needs or ensuring hungry tummies are filled with nutritious food, we want to make sure kids have every opportunity to live to their full potential.

The health-care team has several surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists, an occupational therapist, researchers, orthopaedic technologists, and several support staff. These specialists work in conjunction with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. 

Our team

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery has both surgeons and researchers. Many of the surgeons have specialties within orthopaedics in which they conduct research. The department is composed of surgeons, researchers, orthopaedic technologists, clinic nurses and many valuable support staff. 

Dr. Anthony Cooper (Department Head)

Dr. Anthony Cooper is the Head of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at BC Children's Hospital. He graduated from the University of Leeds - School of Medicine in 2003. He did his basic surgical training in Leeds and then moved to Sheffield for his higher surgical training. After completing his pediatric orthopaedic fellowship at BC Children's Hospital, Dr. Cooper joined BCCH as a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon in 2014. Dr. Cooper is the first surgeon to receive the IGAP award from BCCH. He is also a Clinical Investigator at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Cooper specializes in limb reconstruction, hip deformities and trauma. He runs the multidisciplinary Pediatric Limb Reconstruction clinic and research program. His research involves studies on patient reported outcomes, quality of life, complications of limb reconstruction, geometrical modelling and medical imaging studies. He has ongoing research collaborations with various orthopaedic surgeons and researchers across Canada, Ethiopia, India, UK and USA.


Dr. Christopher Reilly 

Headshot - Dr Reilly.png

Dr. Chris Reilly is the Head of the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedics at the University of British Columbia. He completed his fellowship in Pediatric Orthopaedics at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas before joining the orthopaedic group at Children's. He is a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon specializing in the management of paediatric trauma and spinal deformity. He is also the orthopaedic consultant to the Neuromuscular Clinic. His current research interests include functional and surgical outcomes surrounding pediatric trauma, spinal deformities, neuromuscular conditions and athletic knee injuries.

Dr. Christine Alvarez
   

Dr. Christine Alvarez completed her orthopaedic residency at the University of Western Ontario in London and her medical training at the University of British Columbia. Since joining the team at Children’s, she has completed a Masters of Surgery in Molecular Biology. Dr. Alvarez is the Medical Director of the Shriners Gait Lab located at Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children. Her role includes patient selection for gait assessment, clinical interpretation of the analyses and research for children with various walking difficulties. Dr. Alvarez has been responsible for the formation of the Clubfoot Clinic and the Hereditary Multiple Exostoses (HME) Clinic. Dr. Alvarez’s current areas of research include clubfoot, HME and trauma.


Dr. Kishore Mulpuri
KM Headshot.jpg   

Dr. Kishore Mulpuri completed his medical and orthopaedic training at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University in India and went on to pursue orthopedic fellowships at the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, Australia and the Melbourne Orthopedic Group and Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. He subsequently completed a clinical research fellowship in orthopedics at BC Children's Hospital and a MHSc in Epidemiology at the University of British Columbia. He is now a Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon at BC Children's Hospital and an Associate Professor in the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedics at the University of Columbia. His clinical practice and research interests have a major focus on the pediatric hip and cerebral palsy. He regularly treats patients with a wide range of conditions including developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH), cerebral palsy, Legg–Calvé–Perthes (Perthes) disease, osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) and trauma.


Dr. Firoz Miyanji

Dr. Firoz Miyanji completed his medical school training at the University of Ottawa. He joined the UBC Orthopaedic Residency Program in 1999 and graduated in 2004. He then completed a one year spine fellowship at Toronto Western Hospital and a one year pediatric orthopaedic fellowship at San Diego Children’s Hospital. Dr Miyanji joins the orthopaedic group in providing emergency and elective orthopaedic care at Children’s Hospital. He, alongside Dr. Reilly and Dr. Ghag, provide a combined spinal clinic and operative spinal care service. Dr. Miyanji's research interests include spine surgical outcomes and spinal deformity research. Dr. Miyanji is currently BC’s specialist in vertebral body tethering for scoliosis management. The spine clinic at BC Children’s is part of the Harms Study Group and Growing Spine Study Group, which are multi-center prospective research studies that focus on pediatric spinal deformities.

Dr. Ravi Ghag
 
Dr. Ravi Ghag received his Doctor of Medicine degree and completed a residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine. He has acquired a Masters of Science in Health Economics Policy and Management from the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom. Dr. Ghag joined the BC Children's Hospital Orthopaedic team this year after completing a fellowship in Pediatric and Adult Spinal Surgery at the Oxford University Spine Unit in Oxford, United Kingdom. His clinical interests include management of pediatric spinal deformity and back pain. His research areas of interest include surgical outcomes and economic analyses of surgical intervention.

Dr. Lise Leveille

LL Headshot.jpg
Dr. Lise Leveille completed her medical school training and orthopaedic residency at the University of British Columbia. She then completed her pediatric orthopaedic fellowship at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas before joining BC Children's Hospital in 2015 as a staff pediatric orthopaedic surgeon. She currently acts as the Medical Director of the Shriners Gait Lab at the Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children. Her clinical and research interests include athletic knee injuries, gait abnormalities and cerebral palsy.



Dr. Andrea Simmonds

Simmonds.png

Dr. Andrea Simmonds completed her medical degree at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and her Orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of British Columbia. She then completed a fellowship in adult spine surgery, with a focus on minimally invasive techniques, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles. Following this, she returned to Vancouver for a two-year fellowship in Paediatric Orthopaedic surgery, with a focus on spine surgery and Orthopaedic trauma. She obtained a Master in Health Science degree from the University of British Columbia. Her research interests include quality improvement initiatives, clinical care pathways, and holistic and collaborative approaches to spine conditions. 


Orthopaedic Technologists

Fidel Brooks


Ricardo Botia 

Fidel Brooks and Ricardo Botia are the Orthopaedic Technologists at BC Children's. Mr. Brooks and Mr. Botia have extensive training in orthopaedics and medicine.

Research Associates

Emily Schaeffer, PhD
Dr. Emily Schaeffer is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for Dr. Mulpuri. She completed her undergraduate studies in Honours Biochemistry at UBC and holds a PhD in Experimental and Molecular Medicine from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. She has an extensive background in basic science and translational research and her research interests include pediatric hip conditions such as developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH), slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE), hip displacement secondary to cerebral palsy and the genetics underlying DDH. In addition to her role as Postdoctoral Research Fellow, she is also the Study Coordinator for the International Hip Dysplasia Institute and Head Research Coordinator for the International Hip Dysplasia Registry. 

Harpreet Chhina, MSc

HC Headshot.png
Harpreet Chhina manages the Pediatric Limb Reconstruction Research Program for Dr. Anthony Cooper. She has a Master’s Degree in Human Anatomy (Panjab University) and a Master’s Degree in Experimental Medicine (University of British Columbia). She is currently pursuing a Doctoral Degree in Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine UBC. For her PhD thesis, Harpreet is developing a patient reported quality of life questionnaire for children with lower limb deformities. She has particular interest in qualitative research methodologies, quality of life studies, patient reported outcomes and psychometrics.

Eva Habib, BSc
Eva Habib holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Physiology from SFU and is a research assistant for Dr. Mulpuri and Dr. Reilly. She coordinates pediatric trauma and hip research for Dr. Mulpuri and Dr. Reilly. Previously, she provided research support to the spine surgeons in their research on pediatric spinal deformities and surgical outcomes.

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