Mr Hywel Dafydd

I am a Consultant Reconstructive Plastic Surgeon based in South Wales, with a specialist practice in hand and wrist surgery, peripheral nerve surgery, and limb reconstruction. I manage a range of conditions, including the generality of hand and wrist surgery, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, Dupuytren’s contracture, tendon problems, basal thumb arthritis and more complex reconstruction or nerve problems, such as cubital tunnel syndrome or traumatic injuries. I often receive referrals from other hand surgeons regarding patients with ongoing pain and functional problems following nerve injury or previous surgery. I am the designated plastic surgeon for the Swansea Artificial Limb Centre and consequently perform all amputation stump revision procedures for the South West Wales population. This includes surgery for bony overgrowth, nerve pain problems such as neuroma, and issues with soft tissue padding or scarring. I also have a keen interest in reconstruction following trauma, and work closely with Orthopaedic Trauma colleagues to manage the most complex skin, soft tissue and bony problems with a team-based approach. This often requires transplantation of skin, muscle or bone from one part of the body to another and re-establishing the blood supply using microsurgical techniques. I qualified from Cambridge in 2001, then worked in plastic surgery units in Leicester, Birmingham, Coventry and Swansea. Towards the end of my training in 2012 – 2014, I was one of only six international fellows selected to spend over a year learning cutting-edge microsurgical reconstructive techniques at a world-renowned centre in Taiwan under Professor Fu-Chan Wei and his colleagues. In addition to my time in Taiwan, I completed a year's specialist fellowship in orthopaedic hand and wrist surgery in the Auckland Hand Unit, Middlemore Hospital, New Zealand. Further subspecialist training was gained from a visiting fellowship to St. Louis, Missouri USA to learn advanced peripheral nerve surgery from another world expert, Professor Susan Mackinnon. I was entered onto the GMC Specialist Register for Plastic Surgery in 2015. I am now heavily involved with teaching and training the next generation of plastic surgeons. I have co-authored a text book, Key Notes on Plastic Surgery, which was Highly Commended at the 2015 BMA Book Awards and is very popular with senior trainees around the world as they approach their final consultant exams. I am a full member of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand and was elected to Council in 2022. I currently sit on the Instructional Course Committee and was on the Education and Training Committee 2018 – 2021. You will find me listed as invited faculty on a number of national and international training and educational courses. I am also a peer-reviewer of new research articles submitted to the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery. I am bilingual in Welsh and English and happy to conduct consultations in either language.

Hand & wrist surgery: carpal tunnel syndrome, trigger finger, Dupuytren's contracture, nerve damage, basal thumb arthritis, cubital tunnel syndrome, ganglion cyst, wrist pain, tennis elbow, fractures, tendon injuries, finger amputation Peripheral nerve surgery: nerve injuries, nerve compression, nerve pain, nerve tumours Microsurgical limb reconstruction Amputation: stump revision surgery, residual limb problems, phantom pain, neuroma, bony overgrowth