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The Interventional Orthobiologics Blog

What Percentage is “Useless Orthopedic Surgery” Based on Research?

This is a post that some orthopedic surgeons will hate but that needs to be written. This week, I decided to try and estimate the number of orthopedic surgeries that were still being done despite research showing they didn’t work. When I was done, I realized that a staggering 53% of orthopedic surgeries being performed…read more

Rotator Cuff Surgery Results: Only 1/2 of Athletes Return to Play!

Throwing and other athletes tear their rotator cuff all the time, and you would expect that modern orthopedic surgery would have a great answer for these highly active patients. However, a recent study shows rather poor rotator cuff surgery results with professional and competitive athletes. In fact, less than half returned to the same level…read more

Helping a CrossFit Athlete Avoid Rotator Cuff Surgery

I love helping patients avoid rotator cuff surgery. Why? We don’t have good scientific evidence that sewing your torn rotator cuff back together surgically is effective. Why? It may be more about the number of stem cells or lack thereof rather than how well we stitch your tear. A case in point is Bill, a…read more

Motrin and Exercise Can Create Problems

We’ve known for some time that despite many orthopedic and primary-care guidelines including NSAID drugs, like Motrin, that these drugs can blunt healing and have serious side effects. Recently, I was searching the US National Library of Medicine and a new study caught my eye about Motrin and the rotator cuff tendons. That caused me…read more

Shoulder Surgery Complications Caused by Acromioplasty

Shoulder decompression surgery, otherwise known as an acromioplasty, involves removing part the acromioclavicular (AC) joint structures and ligaments from the shoulder and is usually done in conjunction with a rotator cuff repair. The rational is that the bones and ligaments are impinging (pressing) upon the rotator cuff, so the surgeon performs an acromioplasty (cutting the…read more

A Shoulder Stem Cell Procedure 6 Year Follow-up

One of the benefits of being the first physician in the U.S. to use stem cell injections to help orthopedic patients is that every once in a while, an old patient will come back. While we track everyone in a registry, it’s not the same as a patient sitting in front of you telling you…read more

Shoulder Replacement Recovery: Rotator Cuff Damage the Unwelcome Surprise

Way back when, at the turn of the century, the concept of the free lunch was introduced. It was offered by pubs owned by beer companies as a way to entice workers to buy more beer over their lunch hour. It included lots of salty items that went well with beer, prompting the proverbial retort…read more

Rotator Cuff Healing May Depend On Your Genes

As I’ve said many times, the structural model of orthopedics that depends on sewing things together to help pain is on its deathbed as study after study show that these types of surgeries are ineffective. That same paradigm shift holds true in rotator cuff repair, where recent research shows that the surgery was unable to beat…read more
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