US medical regulator was informed of inquiry into Irish paediatric orthopaedic surgeon

The medical regulator in the United States was informed of an inquiry into the paediatric orthopaedic surgeon at the centre of concerns around spinal surgeries when he started working abroad, the Irish Medical Council has said.

Dr Connor Green, who was on leave from Temple Street children’s hospital for three years before resigning this year, has been the focus of a number of reports relating to the care provided to children with scoliosis, spina bifida and developmental dysplasia of the hip.

Concerns were raised in 2023 about high rates of postoperative complications, infections in orthopaedic surgeries and the use of unapproved springs in surgeries.

Green is now working in LifeBridge Health in Baltimore, Maryland, with a post on the hospital’s website stating he is “accepting new patients”.

According to the hospital’s website, Green is a “fellowship-trained pediatric orthopaedic surgeon joining the International Center for Limb Lengthening at Sinai Hospital, part of LifeBridge Health, in Baltimore, Maryland”.

“His clinical practice focuses on congenital and acquired limb deformity, limb length discrepancy, limb reconstruction and hip preservation, including developmental dysplasia of the hip, Perthes disease and adolescent hip pathology,” the website said.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Irish Medical Council said it was “aware of the reports concerning the resignation of Dr Connor Green from Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) and the serious concerns that have arisen in relation to paediatric spinal surgery”.

[ Spinal surgeon who said he would not practise in Ireland now working in USOpens in new window ]

“Dr Connor Green has provided voluntary undertakings to the Medical Council not to practise medicine in Ireland,” the spokeswoman said.

“The Medical Council has no regulatory role or jurisdiction in Maryland. Any regulatory action in relation to a doctor’s practice in Maryland would be a matter for the medical regulator in the state, ie, the Maryland Board of Physicians. In accordance with the terms of the undertaking, the Maryland Board of Physicians was notified of Dr Green’s undertaking.”

The spokeswoman said the matter related to an “ongoing regulatory process” and as such the council “cannot provide further comment”.

[ Surgeon at centre of concerns about children’s spinal surgery resignsOpens in new window ]

Green was referred to the Medical Council by CHI in 2023. The investigation is ongoing and no findings have yet been made.

A report published last year by the Health Information and Quality Authority found Green implanted non-medical-grade springs in three children with scoliosis at Temple Street.

The review described the actions as “wrong”, adding failures in controls meant “children were not protected from the risk of harm”.

Green was not identified in the report, and was instead referred to as Consultant A.

A separate report on his orthopaedic work, conducted by Prof Selvadurai Nayagam, a retired consultant in orthopaedics and trauma in Liverpool, has yet to be published.

However, the Health Service Executive earlier this year announced it was going to carry out a wider look at Green’s practice, reviewing patients whose surgeries were carried out between 2016 and 2023 and including all spinal, limb reconstruction and surgical dislocation of the hip surgeries.