Orthopedic Center

Conditions like fractures, joint problems, and sports injuries force people to change their lives and give up activities they love. We help to restore your routine.

No one in Atlanta has more experience with complex conditions involving the musculoskeletal system, which includes the body’s bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and soft tissues that work together to support your weight and help you move. Injuries, disease, and aging can cause musculoskeletal pain, stiffness, and other problems with movement.

Grady orthopedic surgeons and non-surgical specialists routinely treat patients who have experienced complex fractures and injuries in motor vehicle accidents, falls, or other incidents. They are experts in evaluating and treating the most challenging musculoskeletal injuries and conditions, including those involving the bones, joints, muscles, tendons, and nerves.

These problems are common. More than half of American adults suffer from some kind of musculoskeletal condition, including lower back pain, arthritis, tendonitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Among adults over 65, the incidence rises to 75%.

Our orthopedic specialists can provide the physical therapy to help restore your full range of motion, perform minimally invasive procedures to correct many tears and joint issues, and traditional surgery when a condition requires a more comprehensive solution.

At Grady, whatever you’re dealing with, you never face it alone. We have the expertise to restore your peak performance, maximize your mobility, and enable you to resume the physical activities you love.

Orthopedic conditions come in many forms. So do our services.

Trauma

We are experts at providing the immediate surgical and medical care needed to treat fractures caused by all types of trauma. We also deliver the ongoing care necessary to ensure fractures heal properly once you go home. Learn more about our orthopedic trauma services.

Joints

Our experienced surgeons can correct many joint problems using minimally invasive procedures. But we can also replace severely arthritic or damaged joints with an orthopedic prosthesis designed to replicate the movement of a normal, healthy joint. Total joint replacements are considered when less invasive treatment cannot alleviate a problem. Learn more about our joint services.

Hand and Ortho Plastics

We are practiced in conditions involving the hands and lower arms, including fingertip injuries, nerve lacerations, and ligament injuries. For example, we can correct Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, fix hand injuries like Rolando and Bennet fractures, and treat chronic conditions from the elbow to the fingertips. In many cases, we can perform repairs on an outpatient basis. Learn more about our hand and ortho plastic services.

Foot and Ankle

Our team specializes in sprains, strains, and fractures of the foot and ankle. They can correct weaknesses and instability, repair complex foot and ankle fractures, and treat tendon injuries. Learn more about our foot and ankle services.

Spine

Our team of the best spine surgeons in Atlanta diagnoses back and neck issues and develops tailored treatment plans to relieve your pain. Orthopedic surgeons can also correct spinal deformities and muscle injuries affecting the back. We routinely treat conditions like cervical cord compression, herniated discs, nerve root compression, and degenerative disc diseases like spondylolysis, myelopathy, and stenosis. Learn more about our spine services.

Sports Medicine Surgery

Grady’s sports medicine surgeons are experts at minimally invasive and open surgical repairs to serious injuries typically caused by athletic or physical activities, including work-related injuries and conditions. They routinely work on:

• Shoulders. Grady orthopedic surgeons routinely perform Rotator Cuff surgery, repair subacromial impingements, fix bicep tendon issues, and make other repairs to shoulder injuries.
• Elbow. The team repairs ligament tears, tendinopathies, triceps tears, elbow stiffness, and peripheral nerve issues.
• Hip. Our surgeons can correct femoral acetabular impingement syndrome, hip labral tears, bursitis, hip instability, and other conditions.
• Knee. The team repairs ligament, ACL, MCL, and meniscus tears, cartilage injuries, patella and quad tendon pathologies, patellofemoral osteoarthritis, and performs meniscus transplants.

Testing & Diagnostics

We diagnose orthopedic conditions using a variety of tests that rely on proven technology, including X-ray, MRI, ultrasound, and computed tomography (CT) imaging. In addition, other tests assess flexibility, stress, muscle strength, and gait to measure range of motion or identify abnormal skeletal alignment or muscle function. Here is a rundown of some tests available at Grady:

• Bone density scans. Bone density tests measure bone mineral content and density. They can be done using X-rays, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA or DXA), or a special CT scan that uses computer software to determine bone density of the hip or spine.
• CT bone scans. Computed tomography (CT) scans are noninvasive diagnostic imaging procedures that use X-rays and computer technology to provide more detailed information about the bone tissue and structure than standard X-rays of the bone.
• EMG. Electromyography (EMG) is used to assess the health of muscles and the nerve cells that control them.
• MRI. Magnetic resonance (MRI) may be used to study organs or soft tissue because it can distinguish between normal and abnormal soft tissue. MRI technology is often used to diagnose disorders involving the brain or spine.
• Myelography. This imaging test uses a contrast dye and X-rays or computed tomography (CT) to look for problems in the spinal canal, including the spinal cord, nerve roots, and other tissues.
• Ultrasound. We increasingly use ultrasound technology to quickly assess damage to muscles, tendons, and nerves and detect foreign bodies in soft tissue.
• X-rays. They are often used to detect injuries in the arm, leg, hand, foot, ankle, shoulder, knee, hip, or hand bones. X-rays help to diagnose infections, arthritis, tendinitis, bone spurs, foreign bodies, tumors, or birth defects.

Learn more about our imaging and radiology services.

Physical and Occupational Therapy

Therapy can be used with people suffering from a muscle injury, helping them regain a full range of motion. But it is particularly important to help you get the most from minimally invasive procedures or traditional surgery.

• Before the procedure. Pre-operative therapy can help to improve circulation and build the body’s core. In most cases, this helps you recover more quickly, reducing hospital stays and the cost of care. In some cases, pre-operative therapy may eliminate the need for surgery by restoring muscle function. Pre-operative therapy is also helpful for patients undergoing joint replacement surgery because it prepares them for recovery.
• After the procedure. Post-operative therapy helps minimize the development of scar tissue around the wound and helps a person heal faster and return to full mobility. Most important, post-operative therapy allows you to be more active sooner, speeding your recovery.

Learn more about our rehabilitation and therapy services.

Grady’s Orthopedic Center deals with 11,000 unique patient visits each year – from trauma cases to compound injuries to tendon repairs. Our orthopedic surgeons specialize in traumatology, the use of surgery to repair fractures and other injuries caused by trauma. This makes them uniquely qualified to handle the challenging orthopedic cases that other institutions often refer to Grady: complicated fractures, complex joint reconstruction, debilitating arthritis, joint issues associated with obesity, and others.

Plus, we take a “sports medicine” approach to care that aims to restore peak performance – whatever your level of activity. When you choose Grady, you’re choosing the team that:

• Put Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost back on the field after he shattered his pelvis in a fall.
• Saved Justin Keoninh’s arm after a devastating motorcycle accident.
• Helped Reid Traylor walk again after he broke his thoracic spine – an injury few people survive.

Because the Grady Orthopedic Center’s elite staff works in Atlanta’s busiest trauma center, our providers are uniquely qualified to treat the broadest range of musculoskeletal conditions. Whether you need a hip replacement, spinal disc surgery, or complex surgery for an injury, you will be cared for by an expert.

Grady’s Orthopedics Center accepts new patients with referrals from either primary care providers or other specialists. Please ask your provider to use our Grady Referral Request Form. We will contact you to schedule an appointment.

If you are an existing Grady orthopedic patient and have a MyChart account, visit MyChart or call our scheduling line at (404) 616-1000, to make an appointment.

As one of the nation’s elite teaching hospitals, our orthopedic clinicians are involved in studies aimed at finding better, more effective ways to care for orthopedic patients. Research conducted at Grady is helping to redefine the way doctors around the world treat trauma and orthopedic conditions. This commitment to research means that Grady offers the best standard emergency care – and the best emerging care. The benefit to patients is clear: They have access to treatment options unavailable at most other institutions.