Mr. Adam Ajis

Qualifications: BMedSc (Hons Physiol), MBChB, MRCSEd, FRCS (Tr & Orth)

Mr Adam Ajis is a consultant orthopaedic foot and ankle surgeon at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, where he has been a consultant since 2013. His practice is devoted exclusively to conditions of the foot and ankle, and he is dual fellowship trained in foot and ankle surgery in the USA and the UK. He works at Worthing Hospital and St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester, and is part of the trust’s orthopaedic trauma service.

Conditions treated

Mr Ajis assesses and treats adults with: – ankle arthritis, including ankle replacement and ankle fusion – bunions (hallux valgus), including minimally invasive correction and revision of previous bunion surgery – big toe arthritis (hallux rigidus) – hammer, claw, mallet and crossover toes, and plantar plate injuries – flat foot and high-arched (cavus) foot – chronic ankle instability – Achilles tendon conditions, including chronic Achilles rupture – foot and ankle fractures and the long-term effects of previous injuries

Ankle arthritis and ankle replacement

Ankle arthritis and ankle replacement are a central part of Mr Ajis’s practice. During his fellowship in Baltimore he published research on movement after total ankle replacement and on patient outcomes and return to activity after ankle and hindfoot fusion. He treats complex ankle arthritis, including arthritis after a previous fracture, ankles with deformity and revision of earlier ankle replacements. The choice between ankle replacement and ankle fusion is made with each patient, based on their X-rays, scans and how they use their ankle.

Minimally invasive bunion surgery

Mr Ajis has performed minimally invasive (keyhole) bunion surgery since 2013. The bone is corrected through incisions of a few millimetres under X-ray guidance and held with small screws, which can mean less soft-tissue disruption and smaller scars than traditional open surgery. He teaches the technique to other surgeons on surgical training courses. Training Mr Ajis qualified in medicine from the University of Birmingham in 2001, having also gained a BMedSc (Hons) in physiology. He completed higher surgical training in trauma and orthopaedics in Cheshire and Merseyside, gaining the FRCS (Tr & Orth) in 2011. He then undertook two foot and ankle fellowships: an international fellowship at the Institute for Foot and Ankle Reconstruction in Baltimore, USA, with Dr Mark Myerson, followed by a GMC/SAC approved foot and ankle fellowship at Wirral University Teaching Hospital.

Research and teaching

Mr Ajis has published research on ankle replacement, ankle and hindfoot fusion, flat foot correction, chronic Achilles tendon rupture and ankle instability, in journals including Foot & Ankle International, The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery and Foot and Ankle Clinics. He is a collaborator in the UK Foot and Ankle Thromboembolism (UK-FATE) national audit, published in The Bone & Joint Journal. He received the British Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society poster presentation prize and has contributed specialist expertise to NICE. He is an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, where he is a Professional Development Tutor and examiner.