Patient Stories
Total Hip Replacement for Hip Fracture
72 year old male who was loading his lawn mower into his truck and fell out of the truck bed. He sustained a left hip (femoral neck) fracture.
He is still a very healthy individual and takes no medicines and still enjoys an active lifestyle.
Because this area of the hip has a tenuous blood supply, the best surgery for him was a hip replacement.
At 3 months post op, he was totally healed and ambulating without any assistive device and had returned to all activities.
X Ray in ER showing Left Femoral Neck Fracture (Red Arrow)
Ambulating with no assistance and no limp at 3 months post op
X Ray 3 months post op showing Total Hip Replacement
Fixation of knee & Wrist Fracture
61 year old lady who fell out of her car and sustained a left knee (tibial plateau) fracture and left wrist (distal radius) fracture.
She works as a middle school teacher and doesn't take any medications.
Because there was significant displacement at the knee, surgery was required to put the joint line back in place. The wrist also had significant displacement, so it needed surgery also in order to restore her normal function.
At 15 weeks post op, she was healing well and ambulating without any assistive device and had returned to her duties as a teacher.
3 views of the CT Scan showing the fracture and depression of the lateral tibial plateau (Red Arrows)
Fixation of the Distal Radius Fracture with plate and screws
Fixation of the Tibial Plateau Fracture with plate and screws
Just 3 months after surgery and has only been weight bearing for 2 weeks
Hip Nail for Hip Fracture
86 year old lady who fell onto the sidewalk and fractured her hip (intertrochanteric hip fracture). She was visiting from out of town to support her son who would be having surgery that week.
At baseline, she used no assistive device for ambulation. We fixed her fracture the next day with a rod and screw.
4 months post op she was walking and had returned to all the activities she had enjoyed previous to the injury.
Healed Hip Fracture at 3 months post op
Hip Fracture (Red Arrow)
Humerus Rod for Arm Fracture caused by cancer
73 year old male who had an arm (humerus) fracture after he was lifting up his garage door. The reason the arm broke so easily was because he had a certain type of cancer that had metastasized to his bone and caused the bone to weaken. He essentially fractured through this "weak spot" in the arm.
Despite the metastatic cancer, the other doctors felt he still had at least a year, and possibly more, of life left. For that reason, the decision was made to fix the arm fracture in order to decrease his pain, give him the ability to use the arm more quickly, and hopefully also serve to protect the arm from sustaining another similar type of fracture in the future.
A rod was used to fix the fracture. After fixing it, he had great pain relief and is now able to use his arm for activities of daily living.
Fracture of the humerus (Red Arrow)
Fixed Fracture with Rod
Meniscal Root Repair
65 year old flight attendant who sustained a meniscus tear (posteromedial meniscal root) when she was stepping off a curb and felt a pop in the back of her knee. She had significant swelling, pain, and catching of her knee with any deep flexion. This mad it almost impossible for her to perform at her job. She also lives a very active lifestyle and was unable to participate in many activities she normally enjoys.
Knee X Rays showed no arthritis. MRI of her knee showed a specific type of meniscus tear, termed a "root tear", which is a tear at the back of the meniscus that destabilizes the entire meniscus.
We performed a knee scope in order to repair the meniscus. At 4 months post op, she had returned to work as a flight attendant. She has almost no pain and continues to increase her activities and return to the same lifestyle she enjoyed before the injury.
Medial Meniscus Posterior Horn Root Tear
(Red Arrow)
Medial Meniscus Posterior Horn Root Tear
(Red Arrow)
Drill Tunnel for Repair
Medial Meniscus Posterior Horn Root Tear
(Red Arrow)
Sutures in the Meniscal Root
Final Meniscal Root Repair
Fixation of shoulder Fracture
62 year old female who is right handed fell down the stairs at her house and sustained a right shoulder (proximal humerus) fracture. Some of the bone came through the skin, making this an "open fracture." Because of the increased risk for infection with open fractures, the decision was made to go to the operating room as soon as possible to minimize this risk.
At her 3 month post op vist, she had no pain and had almost equal range of motion compared to her other shoulder.
Proximal Humerus Fracture
(Red Arrows)
Fixation of Proximal Humerus Fracture with Plate and Screws
3 Months Post Op with Near Equal Range of Motion Compared to Other Shoulder and No Pain
Fixation of Arm Fracture with plate and Screws
24 year old male who broke his arm while wrestling competitively. He went to the emergency room where x rays showed the full extent of the fracture. He was then referred to my office. Given his young age and desire to get back to wrestling, the decision was made to fix the fracture surgically in order to give him the most reliable outcome and allow him to move his arm quickly.
At just 3 weeks post op, he had no pain and had almost full motion. The plan is for him to increase his weight bearing to 10 lbs at 6 weeks post op and then to increase to weight bearing as tolerated at 10 weeks post op. Hopefully he will return to wrestling practice at 4 months post op, and wrestling matches by 6 months post op. Updates to follow . . .
X Rays from ER showing fracture of arm (distal humerus)
(Red Arrows)
3 weeks post op showing well aligned fracture
3 weeks post op having no pain and great motion
Total KNee Replacement
59 yo female with right knee osteoarthritis.
X Rays showing arthritis in the medial compartment of the right knee
Post Op Total Knee Replacement
3 weeks Post op