Advanced Orthopedic Care
Surgical Treatments
Our orthopedic surgeons use advanced, minimally invasive techniques designed to treat a wide range of conditions while minimizing pain, reducing recovery time, and improving overall outcomes.
Arthroscopic Surgery
Direct Anterior Approach for Total Hip Replacement
Pain Pump
Pain relief after total joint replacement surgery is an important part of the recovery process. With reduced pain, you are more likely to experience a more comfortable recovery and faster return to everyday activities. A pain pump is a small disposable pump that continuously delivers a local anesthetic medication to block the pain in the area of your procedure. With it, you may need fewer narcotics and have better pain relief than with narcotics alone. And Summa Health was the first healthcare system in the region to use it..
Starr Frame
Summa Health System – Akron Campus was the first hospital in Ohio to use the Starr Frame, which allows skilled orthopedic surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgery on the pelvis. This type of procedure can reduce the need for large open incisions of the pelvis, increasing the rate of success and decreasing the rate of potential complications.
Nonsurgical Treatments
- Sprains and strains
- Overuse injuries
- Tendonitis and tendinosis
- Dislocations or fractures
- Stress fractures
- Arthritis
Our physicians can also:
- Treat and manage sports-related concussions
- Help improve athletic performance
- Expedite referrals to orthopedic surgeons if surgery or more complex treatment is needed
We offer advanced, minimally invasive treatment options, including:
Compartment Syndrome Testing
MSKUS guided injections
Depending on your condition, our Summa orthopedic specialists may recommend an innovative musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSKUS) evaluation rather than the typical MRI. Recent advances in sonar and ultrasound technology have made it a more functional and practical approach to evaluating:
- Joints
- Muscles
- Ligaments
- Nerves
In addition to helping diagnose injuries more effectively, MSKUS helps guide injections more accurately. By aiding in needle placement, MSKUS can improve both your comfort and treatment efficacy. It also helps prevent the needle from going dangerously near important structures like nerves, blood vessels or other organs.
What’s more, this non-invasive diagnostic ultrasound offers numerous advantages over X-Ray, CT and MRI, in terms of safety and effectiveness. These include:
- Ability to capture movement
- Better resolution of soft tissue than MRI
- Ability to identify inflammation
- No exposure to ionizing radiation (uses sonar waves)
- No claustrophobia
- No contraindications
Summa orthopedic specialists have extensive training and experience with ultrasound guidance and needle placement for many musculoskeletal procedures.
Musculoskeletal Ultrasound (MSKUS)
Musculoskeletal Ultrasound (MSKUS) has been used at Summa since 2009. Summa Health Sports Medicine is one of the area’s few providers offering MSKUS in northeast Ohio.
This diagnostic imaging test is used:
- To diagnose injuries to the shoulder, elbow, hand, ankle, and knee
- To guide the physician when administering steroid injections into tendons of the hip, bicep, mid-foot, foot, wrist and elbow
- When performing tenotomies
- To detect nonmetallic foreign bodies (wood, glass, etc.) in soft tissue
- When administering whole blood and platelet rich plasma injections
Summa Health Orthopedic Sports Medicine physicians have performed more than 1,000 ultrasound procedures and real-time diagnostic studies.
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injections
Injuries to tendons are difficult and slow to heal due to the limited blood flow to tough, fibrous tendon tissue. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy provides a new way to treat tendon injuries. PRP injections can also be used for patients with osteoarthritis and other chronic conditions such as:
- Lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow)
- Plantar fasciitis
- Acute muscle and ligament injuries
- Cartilage degeneration
Using the patient’s own blood, our nonsurgical orthopedic specialists can provide ultrasound-guided injections of concentrated PRP to the injured area of the body to speed healing. Injections can be given in the following areas, including the:
- Hip joint
- Bicep tendon
- Mid-foot
- First metatarsal-phalangeal joint (foot/toes)
- Subtalar joint (foot)
- Elbow
- Glenohumeral joint (shoulder)
- Knee joint
Any patient with a tendon injury or arthritis who has not responded to other therapies may wish to consider PRP therapy because it offers a safe, minimally invasive and low-risk alternative to surgery.
Patients with metastatic disease or tumors (cancer), active infections, a low platelet count or who are pregnant and/or are breastfeeding should check with their doctor before undergoing PRP therapy.
Prolotherapy therapy
Stem Cell Injections
The stem cells inside of you serve as the repairmen of your body. However, as you age or if you get injured, you may not be able to get enough of these critical repair cells to the injured area. Stem cell injections help solve this problem by greatly increasing your body’s own natural repair cells to promote healing.
Summa is currently using adipose tissue for stem cell harvest (fat cells) to successfully treat acute and chronic injuries of muscle, tendon, ligaments, bone and cartilage. Some specific conditions that can be treated include:
- Mild to moderate osteoarthritis/degenerative arthritis of joints, especially the hip and knee
- Tendon injuries, including partial tears of the rotator cuff of the shoulder
- Back pain related to degenerative disc and facet joint
Summa physicians perform some of the most advanced stem cell procedures for orthopedic conditions. Our goal is to reduce pain and improve function without the need for surgery.
Tenex Health TX® therapy
TenJet® therapy
Chronic tendon pain can make it difficult to stay active and enjoy everyday life. TenJet® Therapy is a minimally invasive treatment option for patients who haven’t found relief with conservative care such as rest, medication or physical therapy.