Department of Orthopedics In the News

Patient description: 44-year-old female had previously underwent a laminectomy for a disc herniation. Patient presented with new onset of bilateral radicular leg pain without an antecedent history of trauma. Initial radiographic imaging showed laminectomy defect with degeneration at L4-5 and L5-S1. She initially underwent non-operative care, including PT/OT, steroid dose pack, and home stretching exercises. Pain continued and an MRI was ordered which showed significant foraminal stenosis at L5-S1 with facet arthropathy and significant disc degeneration. At the L3-4 and L4-5 levels, she was found to have facet arthropathy with disc height and foraminal collapse and further lateral recess/foraminal stenosis.  

BOULDER, Colo. - In this video from the International Extreme Sports Medicine Congress, Sherrie L. Ballantine-Talmadge, DO, discussed sport-specific return to play protocols for extreme sports athletes.

“What we have found throughout the years is that – even with diagnosis as well as treatment – we had to make it sport-specific. These athletes developed early brain mapping so that they could spin, twist and turn in a different way than a football player or a soccer player,” she said. “The goal of today was to have people think and take the next step and understand there [are] differences in the way that you [rehabilitate] athletes after concussion, and that you are going to get the best outcome with a sport-specific return.”

A 29-year-old non-smoking man with a BMI of 37 kg/m² and history of bipolar disease sustained a right subtrochanteric femur fracture and pseudoaneurysm of his right proximal femoral artery after a gunshot in December 2016.

Flips and perfect finishes initially made Biles a role model to so many. However, her latest decisions, prioritizing mental health on the world’s center stage at the Olympics is something sports medicine doctors hope young athletes can learn from.

In December 2020, the FDA approved the Osseoanchored Prostheses for the Rehabilitation of Amputees (OPRA) Implant System—the first implant system in the United States for transfemoral amputees who have difficulty using a conventional prosthesis. OPRA had been previously available and marketed under a humanitarian device exemption (HDE) since 2015.…

Growing up outside Cleveland in the 1970s, Randy Voss spent plenty of time playing competitive sports on the football field and basketball court. He endured plenty of nicks and dings as a result, and often hobbled about on crutches, both during and after high school.

It’s not often you manage to damage yourself in a city of 70,000 – the population of Broomfield or Castle Rock – that’s also the middle of nowhere. So it was, though, for Wim Haverhals. During the week leading up to Labor Day 2017, the 50-year-old Denver IT professional was back in Black Rock City, Nevada, for the annual weeklong Burning Man arts and music festival. He and wife Kristi had brought along young-adult offspring for what had become a regular pilgrimage for the Dutch-American and his family.

Colten Fritzlan was named the 2020 Resistol Rookie Bull Rider of the Year, has had quite the journey filled with bull riding injuries, said Dr. Jason Stoneback, Chief of Orthopedic Trauma and Surgery and Director of the Limb Restoration Program at UCHealth.

The "Little House on the Prairie" star shared on Instagram that she underwent spinal surgery after years of injuries.

Osseointegration, a form of implant surgery, is restoring freedom of movement to amputees in a revolutionary new way. Correspondent Barry Petersen speaks to doctors about this prosthetic procedure, and with patients who are embracing their expanded mobility with a vengeance.

Dr. Jason Stoneback calls osseointegration (OI) a “game-changer” for amputees. He also knows that successful outcomes can’t be assumed. They have to be earned. As one of the few OI surgeons in the United States, Stoneback has seen first-hand the procedure’s potential to transform amputees’ lives. “I have a lot of patients who are very emotional because of how profound the impact is on them,” he says. Recent studies have reported sky-high success rates for OI, with major improvements in quality of life, mobility, and pain management. Our piece on Munya Mahiya from a couple of weeks ago amply illustrates the upside of OI.

The team roping industry is packed full of heroes, who step up to the front line when they’re called. During the COVID-19 crisis that brought the nation to a screeching halt, ropers in the healthcare field jumped at the chance to help those in crisis, and we honor their contribution here. When we recognized the COVID-19 surge was coming, department leadership made the decision to stop all elective surgeries to preserve PPE and decrease patients in beds. We had to quickly triage all the patients we had scheduled for surgery and see who was absolutely critical. From there, I immediately developed a disaster management plan for the department, especially as a level-one trauma and burn center, because we still have patients who need cared for. 

The World Championship Rodeo Alliance’s Feb. 28 Royal City Roundup in Kansas City, Missouri, featured just nine bull riders. Among them were current world standings leader Jose Vitor Leme, two-time world champion Jess Lockwood, world number-three Joao Ricardo Vieira, and a 19-year-old from Rifle, Colorado, named Colten Fritzlan.

This would not be the first time that Dr. Evalina Burger has hung out a sign that says “Medical Help Available.’’ Caring for people during crisis is ordinary for Burger, an orthopedic surgeon at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. She has repaired blast injuries for refugees fleeing war in Angola, performed the first surgeries for those maimed during Hurricane Katrina and now, during the global pandemic, she is in the operating room doing spine surgeries for those at risk of paralysis or deadly infections.

As medically necessary surgeries resume at UCHealth hospitals across Colorado, Lori Hopper is grateful, relieved and excited. For the past year, she has lived with excruciating pain in her lower back – but a medically necessary surgery scheduled Tuesday with renowned spine surgeon Dr. Evalina Burger is aimed to alleviate that pain. Now, Hopper can see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. In recent months, Hopper has tried everything from chiropractic adjustments, physical therapy, localized injections, and non-addictive medications. Nothing, however, has worked as a long-term solution.

As a way to limit patient risk of exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS expanded Medicare telehealth coverage, enabling beneficiaries to receive a wider range of health care services from their doctors without having to travel to a health care facility.

The new coronavirus is rightly, and almost entirely, devouring news cycles. But even as COVID-19 swamps our attention and stretches the capacity of our health care institutions, those who might in “normal” times end up at UCHealth hospitals for other reasons are still coming. The SARS-CoV-2 virus hasn’t erased heart attacks, organ failures, cancers, injuries, or other illnesses and chronic conditions that need medical attention. The virus is, rather, an addition to and complicator of the many health problems people have anyway. A hypothetical example: a 75-year-old woman with a heart condition falls and breaks her hip. She needs emergency orthopedic surgery. An ambulance arrives, destination UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus. 

Janet Corral, 53, stands on the mobility platform at UCHealth Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Clinic – Stapleton. She unweights herself with her hands on the stainless-steel rails running the length of the apparatus. Her black New Balances rise and fall as she slowly and gingerly walks in place. Guy Lev, the physical therapist who leads the rehab clinic, observes and corrects. He’s focusing on her posture, and so is a visitor who, like Lev, has a doctorate in physical therapy. Ruud Leijendekkers, in from Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands, has long experience in helping leg amputees walk again – as does Lev. Corral, though, is no ordinary above-the-knee amputee.

Two new orthopedic spine surgery experts will perform a wide variety of spine surgeries including decompression and decompression and fusion procedures for spine arthritis, spine deformity correction and management of spine infections and tumors. They use a variety of intraoperative techniques including surgical navigation and minimally invasive procedures. The UCHealth Spine Center is based at UCHealth Memorial Hospital North. Dr. Christina Goldstein will serve as the medical director and is an associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Christopher Gallus is a surgeon and assistant professor at the CU School of Medicine.

Dr. Jason Stoneback and his team at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus have enabled hundreds of patients with limb maladies to live active and productive lives. Dr. Stoneback is chief of orthopedic trauma and fracture surgery, director of the Limb Restoration Program, and vice chair of clinical affairs. Today on CU on the Air, we talk to him about osseointegration and the treatment of many other complex limb conditions.

Foot and ankle orthopaedic surgeon, Kenneth J. Hunt, MD, has joined the Board of Directors of the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society^® (AOFAS), the leading organization for lower extremity medicine and foot and ankle surgery, as a member-at-large.

Elite-level rock and ice climbers, BASE jumpers, free divers, and parkour athletes all have one thing in common—and it’s not that they’re adrenaline junkies. 

She's just 5'2,'' but this gymnast is a 'warrior' in the world of gymnastics. Before Jessica López could dominate at the Rio Olympics, she had to be able to walk again.

On September 7, the Denver Nuggets will be hosting a 3v3 basketball tournament just outside of Pepsi Center. This will be the inaugural 3v3 tournament for the Nuggets, which will include at least four games for each registered team.

Charles Duke tore his rotator cuff in a fall on his driveway. After surgery and extensive physical therapy, he’s back to his passion of fly fishing. The fisherman stands in a tributary of the Arkansas River as it snakes through a meadow near Leadville and effortlessly casts his line so the fly lands in the perfect spot to entice a hungry trout.

DR. KENNETH HUNT vividly remembers how, as a high school football player in the 1990s, he and his teammates often ran up and down stadium stairs during practice. Their coach made the players run the steps as part of the team's conditioning regimen to strengthen their legs, improve their cardiovascular systems and boost their balance.

For several years, Therese Glowacki had an unwelcome companion: nagging pain in her right shoulder. It was often quiet, but it barked when she threw, swam, reached out to clean a countertop, extended upward to wipe a window or other routine actions.

Professional athletes, students and weekend warriors all can take advantage of the clinic's cutting edge orthopedic care, physical therapy and training facilities to boost sports performance.The much-anticipated new UCHealth Steadman Hawkins Clinic Denver facility is now open.

Physimax’s markerless motion-capture assessments are gaining traction in elite sports, including with the NBA’s Pacers and Jazz, MLB’s Rockies, the U.S. Tennis Association player development program, major college athletic programs such as Clemson and UNC, and Brazil’s most popular soccer club, Flamengo.

On Memorial Day, thousands of runners hit the streets for the Bolder Boulder. Among them is an elite group of just 61 people who have run all 40 races.

A custom, 3D-printed cobalt-chromium talus bone put Deanne Carlson on skis three months after surgery to repair a crumbling ankle. If the ankle is a lever, the talus is its fulcrum. It’s an oddly shaped lump onto which the bones of the lower leg drive the body into the bones of the foot. By late 2018, the fulcrum in Deanne “Dee Dee” Carlson’s left ankle had long since given in to the punishments its owner had imparted upon it, and it was dead and crumbling. 

Since 2018, CRYSC and UCHealth have worked together to improve the sports medicine, safety, and health resources at the Club. The partnership has continually evolved, bringing our organizations closer together with the ultimate goal of providing the best youth soccer experience in Colorado and beyond.

 An EMT at Purgatory Resort is back on the ski slopes with new mettle, thanks to a revolutionary new metal implant. In November, Dee Dee Carlson had a bone in her ankle replaced with a custom, 3D printed titanium bone. Just three months after her November surgery, Dee Dee Carlson of Durango was able to ski again. 

Donnelly Family Endowed Associate Professor Corey Neu of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at CU Boulder is working with colleagues at CU Anschutz Medical Campus to detect early osteoarthritis, allowing younger patients to seek treatment earlier and possibly ward off the most severe measures.

The Denver Broncos made their presence known at the Colorado State Capitol Monday. Phillip Lindsay, along with several other Denver Broncos — including quarterback Case Keenum — came to support a measure requiring athletic trainers to be licensed in the state.

Evalina Burger, MD, is a board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora.

Cowboys and rodeo queens made a special visit to Children’s Hospital Colorado on Monday. They took a break from the National Stock Show and Rodeo to visit with some patients and their families.

Paper previously presented at: American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, San Diego, California,

Spine doctors at University of Colorado are making more accurate decisions about spine surgery thanks to a new piece of imaging technology what it can do and helps plan a more successful surgery.