Mr Ricardo Pacheco is a Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon at HMT St Hugh’s Hospital in Grimsby, specialising in knee surgery and sports injuries of the lower limb. He has been a consultant since 2011 and holds fellowships in sports injuries and in knee surgery. He treats everything from a torn cartilage to complex multi-ligament reconstruction, and has worked with professional athletes and with football clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two.

A knee injury from sport is a different problem from a worn-out knee, and it needs a different conversation. The question is not just how to fix it but how to get you back to the thing you were doing, and whether that is realistic. Mr Pacheco’s practice is built around that, from the initial diagnosis through surgery and into rehabilitation. He speaks Spanish as a native speaker, which he is happy to consult in.

About Mr Pacheco

Mr Pacheco was schooled in Santander in Spain and qualified in medicine from the University of Cantabria in 1994. He came to the UK for his surgical training, completing his basic surgical rotation in Yorkshire followed by a period of research at Sheffield University. He undertook his higher surgical training in trauma and orthopaedics on the Sheffield and Yorkshire regional orthopaedic training programmes, gaining MRCS in 2001 and FRCS in Trauma and Orthopaedics from the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2008.

He then completed a fellowship in knee surgery and sports injuries in Bradford, followed by a further fellowship in arthroplasty and knee surgery in Leicester. He has been a consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon since 2011.

The majority of his work is knee surgery and sports injuries of the lower limb. He performs total and partial knee replacement, revision knee surgery, patellofemoral surgery including kneecap replacement and stabilisation procedures, complex arthroscopic ligament reconstruction including anterior and posterior cruciate and multi-ligament reconstruction, meniscal repair, cartilage procedures and osteotomy.

He regularly treats professional athletes, including footballers, cyclists, motorbike riders, triathletes and professional dancers, and supports them through rehabilitation as well as surgery. He has worked with a number of football clubs across the Championship, League One and League Two.

He has been involved in research, has published in orthopaedic and trauma journals, and presents regularly at national and international meetings. Outside work he runs and cycles.

GMC number 4145976

Languages English, Spanish (native)

Areas of expertise

Sports injuries of the knee

• Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and reconstruction
• Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury
• Multi-ligament knee injury
• Collateral ligament injuries
• Knee instability and giving way
• Meniscal (cartilage) tears
• Return to sport assessment and rehabilitation planning

Kneecap (patellofemoral) problems

• Kneecap instability and recurrent dislocation
• Patellofemoral pain
• Patellofemoral arthritis
• Kneecap stabilisation surgery
• Patellofemoral joint replacement

Knee arthritis and replacement

• Knee arthritis and osteoarthritis of the knee
• Total knee replacement
• Unicompartmental (partial) knee replacement
• Revision knee replacement
• Osteotomy to realign the knee

Cartilage and arthroscopic surgery

• Cartilage damage and cartilage procedures
• Meniscal repair and meniscectomy
• Complex arthroscopic knee reconstruction
• Loose bodies

Lower limb sports injuries and trauma

• Sports injuries of the lower limb
• Knee trauma
• Fracture and trauma assessment