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About Prof Venu Kavarthapu
Personal Profile
Professor Venu Kavarthapu is a highly experienced Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon with a special interest in Hip Surgery. He practices at Sloane and Blackheath Hospitals in South-East London.
Training
Prof. Kavarthapu has undergone extensive training in some of the most highly regarded Orthopaedic and Trauma hospitals in the UK and USA. He graduated from India in 1993 and received specialist training in Trauma and Orthopaedics in South Thames London region, following which he completed further fellowship training in hip with Dr. Lawrence Dorr and Dr. Joel Matta in Los Angeles, USA, focusing on minimally invasive total hip replacement and hip impingement surgery, and a Foot & Ankle Fellowship in Surrey, UK.
NHS Base
Prof. Venu Kavarthapu has been working at King’s College Hospital in London as an Orthopaedic Consultant since 2006. In his clinical role, he leads a regional young adult hip surgery service and provides hip impingement surgery and minimally invasive hip replacement service for south-east London region. He is the orthopaedic lead of the King’s Multi-disciplinary Diabetic Foot Unit and has set-up the functional limb salvage Charcot foot reconstruction service that has been recognised nationally.
Teaching and Academic Work
Aside from his clinical work, Prof. Kavarthapu is also actively involved in teaching and lecturing both nationally and internationally at numerous Orthopaedic conferences. In 2024, out of 16 conferences he was invited to speak, 9 were in Europe, 5 in Asia and 1 each in USA and Africa. He established the annual ‘Multidisciplinary and Surgical Reconstruction of Charcot Foot Symposium' and ‘King’s Charcot Foot Reconstruction Cadaver Workshop’ course in London in 2014. The Diabetic Foot Reconstruction Fellowship that is offered in his unit is popular among the foot and ankle trained surgeons from UK and abroad.
Research and Publications
Prof. Kavarthapu is actively involved in research and has published over 60 scientific articles in peer reviewed journals and authored 12 book chapters. He also edited two special editions for the Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma. He has been recognised for developing advanced techniques and protocols on the surgical management of complex diabetic foot infections and deformities that have improved the patient outcomes markedly and are followed globally. He published one of the largest series on diabetic foot reconstructions with the most successful clinical outcomes identified.
Other Professional Responsibilities
Prof. Kavarthapu is an honorary lecturer at King’s College London and an Associate Professor at the University of Southern Denmark. He is also a committee member of the Vascular Society of GB and Ireland Special Interest Group on Diabetic Foot, and a Panel member of Charcot International Consensus Committee. He is the past-President of Indian Orthopaedic Society UK and immediate past-President of the International Association of Diabetic Foot Surgeons. He previously served as the regional training programme director in Trauma and Orthopaedics for SE London for 6 years and a member of British Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Education Committee for 3 years.
Awards
Prof. Kavarthapu was honoured with BIOS Lifetime Achievement Award, BIOS Annual Conference at Windsor in July 2023, and DEAR (Diabetes Education Awareness and Research) Lifetime Achievement Award in Diabetic Foot Care in August 2022. In addition, He was awarded the BOTA trainer of the year award and SE Thames trainer of the year award in 2017. He was awarded the prestigious Honorary Fellowship by Indian Orthopaedic Association in 2016.
Outside Interests
Outside his busy professional and academic life, Prof. Venu Kavarthapu plays cricket for King’s College Hospital team and does regular trekking. He played in a charity cricket match with the International XI team and raised a substantial mount for King’s College Hospital Helipad Funding in 2014. More recently, in 2022, he completed an adventurous trekking to the Everest Base Camp and raised a substantial amount for King’s Diabetic Foot Charity.
What can you expect from Prof. Kavarthapu?
Prof. Kavarthapu is recognised as an expert worldwide in diabetic foot surgery and regionally in hip impingement, hip arthroscopy, primary and revision hip replacements, and all ranges of foot and ankle conditions. He believes in personalised, holistic care and works closely with an experienced team of physiotherapists, podiatrists, diabetologists, anaesthetists, radiologists and nurses, to provide the best possible treatment and to ensure the minimal recovery time for all his patients.
Prof. Kavarthapu sees self-pay as well as private medical insurance patients.
Professional Website
Clinical Interests
Prof. Kavarthapu’s special clinical interest is on the following conditions:
- Hip Arthroscopy
- Hip Impingement Surgery
- Primary Hip Arthroplasty using minimally invasive approach
- Revision Hip Arthroplasty
- Bunion Surgery
- Ankle arthroscopy
- Ankle ligament surgery
- Diabetic foot ulcer surgery
- Diabetic foot deformity corrective surgery
- Charcot foot reconstruction surgery
Professional Memberships
- British Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society
- International Association of Diabetic Foot Surgeons
- Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
