Professor Rahul Bhattacharyya is a Consultant Orthopaedic Knee Surgeon at Ross Hall Hospital, Glasgow.
His NHS base is at NHS Lanarkshire University Hospitals. He is Visiting Professor at University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (knee surgery biomechanics research). He is also an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London and University of Glasgow. He is member of the executive committee of the British Association for Surgery of the Knee (BASK).
His clinical interests are focused entirely on surgery of the knee with a special interest in sports knee injuries with experience in treating elite level athletes. He has a keen interest in personalized ACL reconstruction surgery ensuring the choice of graft (Bone Patella Tendon Bone, hamstrings, quadriceps) and use of additional adjuncts such as Lateral Extra-articular Tenodesis (LET) and internal braces are tailored to the needs of the patient. This ensures the best outcomes and the lowest failure rates. He also performs all other types of ligament repair/reconstruction such as MCL, PCL and the posterolateral corner.
He has significant experience in meniscal repair surgery and preserves the meniscus wherever possible to reduce the risk of future osteoarthritis. He is one of the few surgeons in Scotland who performs Meniscal Allograft Transplantation (cadaveric meniscus replacement for patients with meniscal deficiency) and has been involved in setting up a regional/national service for this in the West of Scotland.
In terms of cartilage surgery, Prof Bhattacharyya performs cartilage repair (Autologous Matric Induced Chondrogenesis (AMIC), OATS and OCA) and preserves the knee joint wherever possible, helping patients to get back to their active lifestyle and improving their quality of life.
For patients with kneecap instability, he believes in a personalized diagnostic approach and tailoring the treatment to the patient’s needs. This ranges from targeted physiotherapy to kneecap stabilization surgery.
He also has significant experience in treating patients with knee osteoarthritis (wear and tear). This ranges from physiotherapy to knee joint injections (steroid, Hyaluronic acid, PRP, biologics), joint realignment surgery (osteotomy), partial and total knee joint replacement. He is trained in robotic assisted knee replacements.
Knee replacement surgery provides excellent outcomes and transforms the quality of life of patients who have advanced arthritis in their knees. Prof Bhattacharyya believes in assessing individual patient’s suitability for a partial (unicompartmental) or a total knee replacement and designing a treatment pathway that will suit their needs. This includes guided physiotherapy before and after the surgery to ensure best outcomes.
Prof Bhattacharyya graduated with Honours in medicine and surgery from the University of Sheffield in 2009. He completed specialist training in orthopaedics in the West of Scotland, Glasgow. He then undertook a further sub-specialty fellowship in sports knee surgery with the internationally renowned Mr Tim Spalding and Mr Pete Thompson at Coventry, UK. Here he was trained in all aspects of modern, cutting-edge sports knee surgery and is one of the few surgeons in Scotland trained to treat meniscal deficiency with Meniscal Allograft Transplantation. Additionally, he completed a further fellowship in knee and trauma surgery at the Kings College Hospital Major Trauma Center in London. He has been awarded the prestigious British Association for Surgery of the Knee (BASK) travelling fellowship in 2023. With this award, he has visited international centers of excellence in sports knee surgery in London Ontario, Canada and Stanford University, USA. This has enabled him to gain further insight into the latest cutting-edge techniques used in knee surgery in world leading centers and being able to offer this to his patients in the UK.
Prof Bhattacharyya is a keen academic. He has two higher degrees in research, having completed an MSc in orthopaedics (awarded top performing candidate) at the University of Edinburgh and an MD (Res) from Imperial College London. Here, he pioneered the use of Cognitive Task Analysis in knee and trauma surgery which led to multiple academic publications and presentations. He has been nominated by the Royal College of Surgeons, England, for innovation in surgical education and for the president’s medal in teaching innovation by Imperial College London for his work in this field. He continues to work in this area in his current role as Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London collaborating nationally and internationally. He also has a keen interest in biomechanics research investigating innovations in surgical techniques in sports knee surgery, research in meniscal allograft transplantation and clinical research ensuring patient outcomes are evaluated to deliver the highest standards of care. He has multiple publications and presentations (including invited lectures) at national and international level. He has co-founded and co-convened the Imperial Sports Knee Meeting (ISKM) annually in London, UK, which brings together world leading experts in sports knee surgery.
He is a keen teacher and trainer, faculty in various national courses, and involved in training the next generation of orthopaedic surgeons.
Prof Bhattacharyya is committed to personalised patient care from start to finish. His experience in the latest techniques and evidence-based approach is tailored to the individual.
