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Auburn Orthopedic Specialists Offers Leading-Edge Care Close to Home TOGETHER, THE FOUR physicians and three physician assistants at Auburn Orthopedic Specialists can boast approxi- mately 90 years of orthopedic experience. With expertise in a variety of fields ranging from hand and wrist surgery to sports medi- cine to joint replacement, these providers can meet the majority of patients' orthope- dic needs at Auburn Community Hospital. "We aim to provide a high quality of care for patients close to their homes," says Michael Wilson, MD, MBA, orthopedic surgeon at Auburn Orthopedic Specialists a nd Deputy Chief Medica l Off icer at Auburn Community Hospital. " When patients and primary care physicians can have the majority of orthopedic issues treated at a community hospital, that's a great convenience to them both." " We have a comprehensive team of specialists who provide exemplary ortho- pedic care in joint replacement, sports medicine, and upper and lower extremity surgery," says Brian D. Ta llerico, DO, Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at Auburn Orthopedic Specialists. "We have four fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeons, including Dr. Wilson and myself." Dr. Wilson brings severa l yea rs of experience as a foot and ankle ortho- pedic surgeon to Auburn Orthopedic Specialists, including serving as Chief of Foot and Ankle Surgery at Harvard and founder of the Harvard Fellowship of Foot and Ankle Surgery in 1995. Dr. Tallerico has nearly two decades of experience, including ser ving as a surgeon in the United States Navy. " We're s t i l l m a k i n g a dd it ion s t o our group," Dr. Wilson says. "We hope to include a fellowship-trained sports medicine specialist who can provide sports medicine for adults, as well as high school- and college-age patients, which will be a huge benefit to the community. We're also hoping to expand our capabilities in hand surgery. Roughly 25% of emergency department visits are related to hand and wrist trauma. It would be greatly beneficial if patients could receive treatment here for the majority of their hand problems." COMPREHENSIVE PATIENT CARE FOR JOINT REPLACEMENT One of the services offered at Auburn Orthopedic Specialists is the total joint replacement program, in which physicians at Auburn Orthopedic Specialists work with referring primary care providers and patients to ensure excellence in care from diagnosis to rehabilitation. " W hen a patient is referred to us for joint replacement , t hey may come to us w it h X-rays f rom a pr i ma r y ca re prov ider, or we ca n do them on-site," says Steven Kieb, DMSc, PA-C, physi- cia n a ssista nt at Auburn Or thopedic Specia list s. " We're able to schedu le most pat ient s for joi nt repla cement surger y within one month." "Preparation for joint replacement includes a comprehensive workup and optimization of each individual patient for their upcoming joint replacement, which includes not just the referring provider but other consultants as well," Dr. Tallerico says. "We include cardiolo- gists, rheumatologists, pulmonologists, physical therapists and nutritionists. It's a multidisciplinary approach." STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY The expertise of providers at Auburn Orthopedic Specialists is matched by the BY HILLARY EAMES A COMBINATION OF SKILLED PHYSICIANS AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES HELP PROVIDE QUALIT Y ORTHOPEDIC CARE TO THE COMMUNIT Y. Excellence in Orthopedic Hand Care K ATHI TEIX EIR A , MD, board-certified orthopedic specialist at Auburn Orthopedic Specialists, boasts several years of experience in orthopedic hand surgery, an especially benefi- cial practice to the many laborers and factory workers of the community. With ultrasound-guided Sonex Health MicroKnife hand surgery, Dr. Teixeira is able to treat patients with hand issues so they can return back to work with limited down time. "This procedure is done under local anesthesia," Dr. Teixeira says. "Patients walk in dressed in their street clothes. They sit in a procedure room on a reclining- type chair, put their operative arm out on a table, and about 15–20 minutes later, their surgery is done. They get up, walk out and drive home themselves." The Sonex Health MicroKnife's incision is three to four millimeters in length with no stitches required. Most patients can return to their normal activities three to five days after their surgery. "A lot of people are hesitant to have carpal tunnel surgery because they don't want to be out of work for three to four to six weeks, but it may not be necessary if they qualify for the Sonex Health MicroKnife surgery," Dr. Teixeira says. "If a physician has patients who may qualify, I encourage them to send their patients to us so they can learn more about the Sonex Health MicroKnife technique. Patients may be pleas- antly surprised that they don't have to limit their activities for that long after carpal tunnel release surgery." Brian Tallerico, DO, using the Mako robotic arm to perform knee replacement surgery at Auburn Community Hospital. 2 0