d.thai@orthowest.com.au

  0409 015 117

About me

Area of specialty: Upper limb – Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist (the scaphoid is the most distal extent of my capabilities – anything more then refer to Matthan Mammen).

Prefers face-to-face interactions or direct phone calls. Avoid text messaging if possible, especially when oncall. Always available for a chat – you can find me every Friday morning in the outpatient department,, room 1, level 1 at Footscray hospital between 10.00 am – 12.00 pm. Just hover around the room and introduce yourself when I am not seeing a patient.

Star Wars nerd. Took up aqua scaping and fish keeping as a hobby during COVID – now an integral part of R&R. Training for a Triathlon. Likes reading Fantasy and Sci Fi genres. Xbox and PC gamer (when there is time!). Cherishes family time above all else.

In the heart-pounding world of surgical precision, strides forth a figure like no other—Dr. Duy Thai, the unyielding titan of shoulder orthopaedics. A scion of Vietnam’s fiery spirit, he’s a force to be reckoned with, transcending borders and limitations. With the grace of a masterful conductor, his surgical symphonies mend the broken sinews of humanity, each movement a dance of life and death. But it’s not just his scalpel’s edge that keeps hearts racing—it’s his unquenchable zeal for training the next generation of warriors in the theatre of surgery. Behind the wheel of his Tesla, he accelerates into the unknown, a high-speed chase towards enlightenment, where the road is as uncharted as the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins. In a world where every incision could write destiny, Dr. Duy Thai stands tall, a relentless action hero sculpting the future with every cut.

What my working week looks like

Monday: AM – Operating at Williamstown every fortnight. PM – Private consulting

Tuesday: AM – Northern Hospital outpatients. PM – Private consulting

Wednesday: AM – Operating Northern Hospital. PM – Trauma list at Footscray hospital monthly/Private consulting/Private operating

Thursday: AM and PM – Private consulting or operating

Friday: AM – Footscray Hospital outpatients. PM – Operating Williamstown/Footscray/Private

Common elective surgery performed and preferences:

Total Shoulder Replacements (Anatomic or Reverse)

Position: Beach chair with T-max table. No spider arm required.

Shoulder block: Up to the Anaesthetist

Equipment: Zimmer Biomet Comprehensive. Signature guides requires a pre-operative planning CT scan to be done at least 6 weeks prior to the surgery date. The Surgical Liaison nurses usually organise this. Rep is Erica Hyland (Mob: 0412749042, E: Erica.Hyland@zimmerbiomet.com)

Arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs

Position: Beach chair with T-max table and Spider arm

Shoulder block: Up to the Anaesthetist

Equipment: Depuy Healix anchors. Rep is Wendy Coleman (Mob: 0409 782 292, E: wcolema3@its.jnj.com)

Arthroscopic shoulder stabilisation – Bankart repairs +/- Remplissage

Position: Beach chair with T-max table and Spider arm

Shoulder block: Up to the Anaesthetist

Equipment: Depuy Gryphon anchors. Healix anchors required if remplissage is performed. Rep is Wendy Coleman (Mob: 0409 782 292, E: wcolema3@its.jnj.com)

Arthroscopic capsular release for adhesive capsulitis

Position: Beach chair with T-max table and Spider arm

Shoulder block: Up to the Anaesthetist

Equipment: Nothing special – just the VAPR wand from Depuy which is onshelf at Williamstown.

Arthroscopic subacromial decompression

Position: Beach chair with T-max table and Spider arm

Shoulder block: Up to the Anaesthetist

Equipment: Nothing special – just the VAPR wand from Depuy which is onshelf at Williamstown and an arthroscopic burr and shaver

Laterjet shoulder stabilisation

Position: Beach chair with T-max table and Spider arm. Done all open, not arthroscopic

Shoulder block: Up to the Anaesthetist

Equipment: Arthrex Laterjet kit with coracoid plate. Rep is Nic Weir (Mob: 0427955201. E: Nic.Weir@arthrex.com.au). 90 degree angled saw blade from stryker (should be onshelf at Williamstown)

Arthroscopic SLAP repairs

Position: Beach chair with T-max table and Spider arm.

Shoulder block: Up to the Anaesthetist

Equipment: Arthrex knotless suturetak anchors. Rep is Nic Weir (Mob: 0427955201. E: Nic.Weir@arthrex.com.au). Tornier 3.5mm piton anchor (should be onshelf at Williamstown).

Trauma workload and preferences

Mainly does oncall at Sunshine. Will occasionally do oncall at Footscray once in a blue moon.

Clavicle fractures

Styker clavicle locking plates

For acute AC joint injuries – Synthes clavicle hook plate

For chronic AC joint injuries – Modified Weaver Dunn using Arthrex Dogbone CC ligament reconstruction

Proximal humeral fractures

If internal fixation required – Zimmer Biomet ALPS proximal humerus plate

If Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement for fracture – Zimmer Biomet Comprehensive fracture stem

Humeral shaft fractures

Proximal shaft – Synthes PHILOS plate

Mid shaft – Synthes large fragment locking plate (posterior approach)

Distal shaft – Synthes 3.5mm extra articular distal humeral locking plate

Humeral nail only used for pathological fractures – Stryker T2 humeral nail

Elbow fractures

Distal humeral supracondylar/interconylar fractures: If internal fixation required – Stryker distal humeral periarticular locking plates with 4mm ASNIS screws

If total elbow replacement required – Tornier/Wright medical Latitude total elbow replacement

Radial head fractures: Internal fixation – Medartis radial head speedtip cannulated screws or radial neck plates

Radial head fractures: Replacement – Older patients – Whatever is onshelf (nothing fancy – doesn’t really matter). Younger patients I prefer to use a pyrocarbon radial head replacement (Tornier/Wright or LMT)

Olecranon fractures: Over 80 year old you really need to think hard about whether they need to be fixed (see Duckworth’s paper). Most can be fixed with tension band wire construct. If comminuted then olecranon plate fixation (don’t really have a preference)

Distal radius fractures

Stryker Variax volar locking plate

Scaphoid fractures

Medartis scaphoid specific locking plate. See paper by Talia and Thai et al and Muirhead and Thai et al.

Ankle fractures

Synthes small fragment set – 1/3 tubular plate for most Weber B fractures. Synthes distal fibular locking plate for more complex ankle fractures. Large fragment syndesmosis screw for diastasis injuries (never got around to learning how to do the new fancy tightrope!)

Fractured neck of femur

I still like to do DHS for intertrochanteric fractures.

Subtrochanteric fractures can get a gamma nail.

Displaced subcapital fractures can get a unipolar hemiarthroplasty.

If a Total hip replacement is warranted for a # NOF then this can be referred to someone who knows what they are doing!

Talus, Lisfranc, Calcaneal, metatarsal fractures

Refer to the foot and ankle surgeons