Shoulder and Elbow - Shawn W. O'Driscoll

Overview

Despite scientific advances in orthopedic surgery, one area lags behind the others: the elbow. Injuries affecting the elbow can be very debilitating. Overcoming the pain, loss of motion and resulting loss of function can be a significant challenge for patients and the surgeons who treat them.

As such, there is considerable interest in the development and refinement of techniques to repair or reconstruct injured elbows. The implications of improving existing methods and devising new approaches in this field would be great in terms of the number of people affected and their quality of life.

Importantly, in this era of escalating health care costs, advances in this area would decrease the long-term costs of health care related to elbow injuries.