Welcome
Prof. Pennington FRCS (Ed), FRACS is the former senior Plastic Surgeon and Department Head of Plastic Surgery at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, now Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Macquarie University. He is one of Australia’s most experienced Microsurgeons, and practices a wide range of Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Surgery, sub-specialising in Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgery of the breast.
Prof. Pennington is a member of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons and the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Dr. Pennington has featured on a number of episodes of the well-known Channel Nine series ‘RPA’.
Read Dr. Pennington’s full bio
Recent News
Rojina before and after surgery to release contractures of her right shoulder and elbow
In March-April 2012 another team of Plastic Surgeons from Australia and NZ, headed by Prof Pennington, as well as Anaesthetists, nurses and ancillary staff visited Nepal. This was the 9th such program, and this time 39 patients were operated on over a period of two weeks, to relieve severe burn-scar contractures. All procedures were successful and all but three patients had been discharged from the Scheer Memorial Hospital by April 24.
We were also able to review several patients who had had previous surgery, and three of them underwent procedures to further improve their restricting scars. An example is Rojina, an eight-year old girl whose “before and after” photos are above.
This program relies entirely on donations for funding, and those wishing to do so may go to http://www.sah.org.au/healthcare-outreach-donations where you are directed to the donations website. Tax-deductible donations should be made to “Sydney Adventist Hospital Foundation – Project C”. Thank you !
Silicone implants have been the mainstay of breast augmentation surgery for over forty years. The commonest complication of all-silicone implants has been capsular contracture, where the body’s reaction to the implant in around ten percent of patients causes the implants to feel hard, go out of shape or cause discomfort. Coating the outer shell of the silicone-filled implant with polyurethane foam has been known for many years to reduce the incidence of these complications to around one percent, but there had been safety concerns in the past. These are now resolved and polyurethane-coated implants are making a comeback.
A Brazilian company, Silimed, have pioneered the re-introduction of polyurethane-coated implants into the market, and they have recently become available in Australia. Allthough they won’t necessarily replace the standard textured surface silicone implant in all cases, many surgeons are using them to replace silicone implants that may have developed capsular contracture before, to reduce the risk of that happening again. Moreover the reduced risk of contracture makes them more attractive for some patients seeking breast reconstruction after mastectomy, as those patients normally are at a much greater risk of capsular complications.
Another advantage of the Silimed implants is that for now their cost is significantly less than the usual silicone implant range available. Replacement of implants that have developed medical problems or complications attracts a Medicare rebate, and health funds will usually cover hospital costs, further reducing costs in patients who have suffered those problems.
Dr Pennington has commenced using these implants in selected patients, so far with good results, although the follow-up periods have not been long to date.
To enquire about these new implants, please phone 92471066 and request an appointment with Dr Pennington. For general information on breast augmentation, see the “Breast” section on this website.
At Easter, 2010, the Australian team of doctors and nurses again visited Nepal to continue the sixth annual Burns Reconstruction Program, sponsored by the Sydney Adventist Hospital Foundation and Scheer Memorial Hospital, Banepa, Nepal. This year the team included Gynaecologists Gordon Campbell and Andrew Booker, who conducted a prolapse repair program simultaneously with the Plastic Surgery Team. A total of sixty-five patients were operated on by our team surgeons, forty plastic surgery and twenty-five gynaecology patients. Dr Pennington and Dr Phillip Rome from Sydney’s RPAH and local plastic surgeon, Dr Basanth Mathema led the plastic surgery team, assisted by Anaesthetists Drs Stephanie Phillips, Harry Lam and Jiro Sato. Assistant surgeons Dr Tom Pennington, Dr Suat Ng & Dr Alison Ward were new team members this year, as were nurses Kylie Duncan & Corilda Grant. IT consultant Mike Duncan was also a new member of the team. We were also accompanied by Mike Were, the newly appointed Director of Outreach for the Sydney Adventist Hospital.
This year there were a number of severe leg contractures in children, as well as many contractures of neck, hands, elbows, wrists and shoulders. All patients recovered well and surgery was successful in the vast majority of patients, with no major complications.
As usual, our nurses who staffed the Plastic Surgery Ward, Gynaecology Ward, Operating Theatres and Recovery areas made a major contribution to the success of the program. Thanks must go to the local Scheer Memorial staff who assisted in all aspects of the program, and were keen to have our staff share knowledge and techniques with them.
Team leader, John Sanburg, is keen to plan a further visit in 2011 and plans are well underway. Grateful patients and their relatives farewelled the team after ten days of intense work, restoring disfigured bodies and giving hope to those whose lives had been devastated by severe burns.
This program is supported by public donations: tax deductible donations can be made through the mail using the form at this link:
Please ensure you mark your donation as for the “Nepal Plastic Surgery Program”. Thank you.
We wish to thank all our previous supporters and hope that new supporters and donors will continue to consider the program worthy of support.
