Mr Samuel Rajaratnam

Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon | Crowborough, Eastbourne, Seaford | Knee

Medical qualifications

MB BS, BSc, FRCS(Tr & Orth)

Year of qualification

1997

Special interests

Knee

Professional Profile

Mr Sam Rajaratnam FRCS (Tr. & Orth.) is a leading Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon specialising solely in Knee Surgery.

He is the Director of Orthopaedics and Head of Department of Knee Surgery at the Schoen Clinic in London, and also runs a successful practice at The Horder Centre, Crowborough and occasionally at the McIndoe Centre in East Grinstead.

He specialises in the latest techniques in treating disorders of the knee joint and is recognised internationally as one of the leading experts in Knee replacement Surgery throughout the UK.

Mr Rajaratnam performs amongst the highest number of successful knee replacement operations annually (approximately 450 per year) as evidenced by the UK National Joint Registry (NJR) each year with excellent outcomes, and has now performed over 4,500 Knee replacements. He also has amongst the lowest revision rate (failure rate) for Knee Replacement surgery as evidenced by the NJR.

He is passionate about the latest rapid recovery techniques and is very keen on early mobilisation, optimising pain relief and achieving early return to function following knee surgery.

The latest joint replacement techniques he performs include both partial and full surface replacements and use patient-specific 3D printed customised alignment methods for accurate fitting of knee implants when necessary.

He is also an internationally recognised expert on the ROSA Robotic system (from Zimmerbiomet), having successfully implemented the first commercially active ROSA Robot in the U.K. (in December 2020) and regularly trains other surgeons on this technique. He hopes to offer this for Private Patients at the Horder centre from the summer of 2022.

Mr Rajaratnam also treats numerous professional and amateur sportsmen with soft tissue injuries to their knee, and performs over a 100 ACL reconstructions each year as day case procedures and numerous other soft tissue procedures.

He is one of the select surgeons working with the Professional Football Association (PFA) and other international sporting institutions, providing joint replacement and soft tissue injury care to current and ex-professional footballers. Mr Rajaratnam is one of the regular chairs/ expert contributors to the annual FIFA- Isokinetic Football Medicine Conference each year.

He is excited about the advances in stem cells and biological solutions for treating appropriate cartilage defects in the knee but is very careful in selecting the appropriate patient for each new technique.

Contact us

Private Patient Services
T:01892 620934

Medical Secretary
Sharon Hanks
T: 01892 620939 ext 3178
M: 07399 535752
E: sharon.hanks@horder.co.uk

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Mr Samuel Rajaratnam

Medical qualifications

MB BS, BSc, FRCS(Tr & Orth)

Year of qualification

1997

Special interests

Knee

Personal Profile

Sam is a keen sportsman and enjoys numerous sports including golf, cricket, tennis and countryside sports. He is also a keen pianist and accordionist.

Awards

Current memberships

Training and Awards

Sam trained at Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital in London and qualified with a First Class degree in anatomy and an MBBS in 1997.
Further training via the Royal College of Surgeons, England at numerous centres of excellence in the U.K. and Australia.
In 2006 Sam was awarded the Walter Mercer Gold Medal for the best performance throughout Great Britain and Ireland in the final FRCS orthopaedics examination.
British Orthopaedic Association Ambassador to Hong Kong in 2007 working in Sydney, Australia, at some of the world’s best knee injury units.
Appointed as a Consultant Surgeon in the U.K. in 2008, and now enjoys an excellent national reputation as a leading knee surgeon.
Sam lectures internationally on advances in knee surgery and is an advisor to NHS England via the National Orthopaedic Alliance.

Related treatments

Patient stories: Glen Noot

In this video Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Mr Sam Rajaratnam follows up with a patient 6 weeks after his second knee replacement. Mr Glen Noot had suffered from constant pain for the past two years.

Following joint replacement surgery on both knees, Mr Noot is now able to go back to work, play golf and enjoy life pain-free.

Read patient story

Video transcript

Sam Rajaratnam: Glen it's very nice to see you at the end of your journey having had two knee replacements and I thought it would be useful to ask you about what you were like before you had your knee surgery. How old are you now?

Glen Noot: 52 now.

SR: You're 52 now and what do you work as?

GN: Refrigeration engineer.

SR: So that's quite a manual job, very physical.

GN: Yes, going up step ladders, steps carrying, lifting heavy equipment et cetera.

SR: So what were you like before your joint replacement surgery?

GN: Progressively over the last five or six years it just got worse. I would say the last two years really I was suffering, sleepless nights. A lot of pain, constantly. Playing golf on a Saturday meant Sunday laid up on the couch all day with painkillers and since the operations on both knees it's been absolutely fantastic. I've got no pain and I'm having sleep free, I mean sleeping well. It feels better, like a better body, much more happier as a person if you want to put it that way instead of being, well because it can get a little bit depressing.

SR: So before the surgery, you tried a few years of conservative treatment, hadn't you?

GN: Yes, it was basically just sort of said I should have physio. I kind of did my own but it you know it was beyond that which I'm sure you know.

SR: Exactly. We first met a few months ago when I first did your right knee and then six weeks ago your left knee. How did you find the knee replacement surgery?

GN: It was very quick, to be honest a lot quicker than I thought and the stay in hospital a lot shorter than what it probably would have been when my uncle had it 15 years ago. Three nights and then it's four weeks of physio which is a little bit painful but then in the long run those four weeks are a lot better than living with arthritis, arthritic knees and constant pain. So, yes I would do it again tomorrow if I was give the chance. And I would have had it done five years ago if I was given the opportunity, to be honest with you.

SR: Yes, I'm so pleased. So you're now six weeks after the the second knee and you got back to good function haven't you? You've got back to playing golf, getting back to work.

GN: Exactly, I played golf last week and I'm walking a lot better, it's a lot easier. Yes, there's still a little bit of muscle that I've got to build-up obviously.

SR: Can we see your bending and straightening? Excellent your range of motions, excellent.

GN: Yes, absolutely pain-free.

SR: Well done Glenn. I'm really pleased it's gone as expected and well done for getting good results in this particular situation is a combination of good surgery, good anaesthesia, a rapid recovery protocol but also a motivated patient and it's really us working together, you know as patient and doctor, that enables good results to be achieved so really well done for it, I'm really pleased. Thank you.

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Mr Sam Rajaratnam FRCS (Tr. & Ortho) performs amongst the highest number of successful knee replacement operations on the UK National Joint Registry each year, with excellent outcomes.

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