This site contains the South Australian Clinical Prioritisation Criteria (CPC) for most frequently referred orthopaedics conditions.

Orthopaedics conditions

Please note this is not an exhaustive list of all conditions for outpatient services and does not exclude consideration for referral unless specifically stipulated in the orthopaedics exclusions section.

Out of scope

Not all medical conditions are covered by the CPC, as certain conditions may be considered out of scope or managed by other specialist services:

  • nil

Exclusions for public specialist outpatient services

Not all orthopaedic conditions are appropriate for referral into the South Australian public health system. The following are not routinely provided in a public specialist outpatient service:

  • acute or sub-acute non-specific spinal pain
  • clinical symptoms not severe enough to require surgical intervention
  • chronic non-active Charcot neuroarthropathy
  • Dupuytren’s nodule without functional impairment or contracture
  • frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis)
  • refer to rheumatology department for systemic inflammatory disorders

Emergency information

See the individual condition pages for more specific emergency information.

Feedback

We welcome requests for further information or feedback on the CPC and website, please refer to the relevant form below.

Please email the completed form to Health.CPC@sa.gov.au.

Review

The Orthopaedic CPC is due for review in May 2024.

Evidence statement

For a copy of the evidence statement, please email Health.CPC@sa.gov.au.