Seattle Joint Surgeons

Passing on knowledge to the next generation.

New website is up! It’s 🔥, and we think it should be a great resource for our patients. Go check it out and let us know what you think it you have the time. www.seattlejointsurgeons.com @ Swedish Orthopedic Institute

Book chapter on shoulder arthroplasty is out in press. Saw it for the first time at this years AAOS in Las Vegas. It can be found in the latest Chapman’s Orthopedics Text. @ Swedish Orthopedic Institute

All in a days work!

Now this is what we call dedication and love for her orthopedic work! Dr. Laura Matsen-Ko skied 7 miles to work to do 4 surgeries today!

Seattle Joint Surgeons

Partial humeral head resurfacing for a reverse hill sachs lesion. This was performed through a partial subscapularis take down. The partial resurfacing should prevent engagement of the hill sachs lesion preventing further posterior dislocations.

We are proud to work at one of the best orthopedics hospitals in the country. The Swedish Orthopedic Institute on Seattle, WA consistently rates as one of the best quality orthopedic hospitals in the country. We experience less complications, better outcomes, and all with a lower total cost of care than most other hospitals. Our hospital performs more than 5,000 orthopedic procedures annually and is the highest volume center in the State of Washington. @ Swedish Orthopedic Institute

This is not an x-ray you see everyday. This patient was treated elsewhere in the 1990s, but came into our offices to establish follow-up care. This patient had and osteosarcoma of the humerus and had a total humeral replacement linked to a total elbow replacement. With no proximal rotator cuff attachments, this patient had relatively poor shoulder function but had reasonable elbow function despite compromise of her triceps from the tumor resection. We applaud the original surgeons who did the reconstruction which saved her life, preserved some arm function and lasted almost 25 years so far without a major complication.

Notice anything unusual about this set of otherwise routine set of X-rays demonstrating shoulder arthritis? (Swipe right to find out the answer)
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This patient has a very large loose body in the subcoracoid recess which we excised. It measured almost 4 cm in diameter. After removing this, we performed a total shoulder arthroplasty. We think this patient is headed towards a much better shoulder once they get through the recovery. @ Swedish Orthopedic Institute

We always appreciate thank you notes from our patients. This is one of the more unique ones we have gotten from Coach Steve’s team. His new knee has allowed him to get back being more active, and getting back to coaching. 👍⚽️🤛 @ Swedish Orthopedic Institute

We were fortunate to have trained at and learned a lot from this Dr. Rothman’s experience, wisdom, and expertise.

“At 81, orthopedics pioneer Richard Rothman gives up surgery – but will never stop working”

We recently evaluated a patient with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome who present with chronic bilateral shoulder instability and subluxations. Ehlers-Danlos is a collagen disorder which results in connective tissue laxity. Patients present with hyper mobile joints and a history of dislocations or subluxations. This patient had static subluxation of bilateral shoulders. Unfortunately, soft tissue procedures are typically unsuccessful at managing the subluxations because the soft tissue will just stretch back out over time. Shoulder fusion is an option but is quite drastic. Usually we recommend extensive physical therapy as the best and safest means of treatment but it too can be challenging.