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Mr Henry Colaco

Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon

BSc(hons), MBBS, MSc, FRCS(Tr&Orth), MFSTEd

Practises at: Sarum Road Hospital

Mr-Henry-Colaco-Orthopaedics

Personal Profile

Mr Henry Colaço is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon who specialises in reconstructive and sports shoulder and elbow surgery and complex upper limb trauma including hand and wrist injuries. He is the Clinical Lead for Upper Limb Surgery at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and a founder member of the Shoulder Practice (www.theshoulderpractice.com) and The London Shoulder Meeting.

He firmly believes in a patient-centred approach to treatment and collection of functional outcome data in order to tailor operative and non-operative techniques to the individual. When surgery is required, he uses novel techniques including awake shoulder surgery, 3D templating for joint replacement surgery, and minimally invasive techniques where possible to achieve optimal results and faster rehabilitation.

He has experience of managing high profile individuals; actors, musicians, and professional athletes including footballers, Saracens, Harlequins, and England International rugby players. He has an interest in developing novel techniques of reconstructive arthroscopic (keyhole) surgery, including management of bone loss in shoulder instability, strategies for irreparable rotator cuff tears and biceps tendon injuries.

After graduating from Imperial College School of Medicine with Distinction in Surgery, he completed his surgical and orthopaedic training in London teaching hospitals, including fellowship posts in shoulder & elbow surgery at University College Hospital, and complex upper limb surgery at St George’s Hospital. He was awarded the prestigious BESS Travelling Fellowship which he undertook in Paris and Lyon, and was appointed as a Locum Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, and an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at University College London in 2016.

In 2017, he was appointed as a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, where he is a surgical trainer, and Clinical Lead for upper limb surgery. He is the lead researcher for trials of a micro-arthroscopic camera, a fixation plate for distal radius fractures, and is involved in a trial of a novel plate for clavicle fixation. He is a site investigator for the NIHR-funded ProFHER-2, SCIENCE, CRAFFT and SOFFT randomised controlled trials.

He is a former member of the BESS Education Committee and founding member of the BESS Simulation Working Group. Since receiving the ‘Innovation in Simulation’ Award from the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) in 2015, he has continued his work to use simulation to enhance surgical skills training and improve patient safety. He developed a surgical skills course for UCL medical students and is working with industry partners to create a surgical skills simulation centre for the Wessex region.

In 2015 he was appointed as a Member of the Faculty of Surgical Trainers of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and is involved in teaching and training at regional, national and international courses. Since 2015, he has organised the annual London Shoulder Meeting which has grown to become the largest independent shoulder and elbow conference in the UK. In September 2018, he chaired the shoulder & elbow educational and scientific sessions at the BOA Centenary Conference. He is an invited reviewer for a number of international journals including Bone & Joint Journal and Shoulder & Elbow, and in 2020 he was honoured to join the Arthroscopy Association of North America and the Editorial Board of the Journal of Arthroscopy.

Clinical Interests

  • Shoulder replacement
  • Shoulder arthritis
  • Rotator cuff arthropathy
  • Shoulder arthroscopic surgery
  • Minimally invasive needle arthroscopy
  • Rotator cuff repair
  • Labral repair
  • SLAP repair
  • Shoulder instability
  • Shoulder stabilisation
  • Superior capsular reconstruction
  • Arthroscopic glenoid bone block augmentation
  • Latarjet procedure
  • Clavicle fractures
  • Proximal humerus fracture
  • Humeral shaft fractures
  • Elbow fractures
  • Elbow arthritis
  • Elbow arthroscopy
  • Radial head fracture forearm fractures
  • Distal radius/wrist fractures
  • Wrist arthroscopy
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Trigger finger
  • Dupuytren's disease
  • Hand fractures/dislocations

Professional Memberships

  • British Elbow & Shoulder Society (BESS)
  • British Orthopaedic Sports Trauma & Arthroscopy Association (BOSTAA)
  • British Orthopaedic Association (BOA)
  • Orthopaedic Trauma Society (OTS)
  • Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCSEng)
  • The Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA)
  • Faculty of Surgical Trainers of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh

  • Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT)
  • Royal Hampshire County Hospital
  • Basingstoke & North Hampshire Hospital
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