Joaquin Sanchez-Sotelo, M.D., Ph.D.

Joaquin Sanchez-Sotelo, M.D., Ph.D., has areas of interest that include surgical conditions affecting the shoulder and the elbow joints, as well as strategies in individualized medicine aimed at identifying subjects at risk of suboptimal outcomes after orthopedic surgery and developing adjuvant therapies to improve outcomes in selected individuals identified through risk profiling.

Dr. Sanchez-Sotelo is specifically interested in replacement surgery of the shoulder and elbow, tendon and ligament healing in the shoulder, and fibrosis leading to elbow stiffness.

Focus areas

• Outcome of shoulder replacement
• Outcome of elbow replacement
• Fractures and dislocations affecting the shoulder and elbow
• Joint stiffness and fibrosis

Significance to patient care

Joint replacement has become one of the most successful surgical procedures offered in the field of medicine. Frontiers in the improvement of shoulder and elbow replacement surgeries include predictable functional outcomes related to the adjacent soft tissues, a decrease in the complication rate and the development of longer lasting implants.

Individualized medicine will represent the next major step in the field of orthopedic surgery. Different patients experience various outcomes after the same surgical intervention. This is probably related to gene-related individual predisposition to healing responses. Risk profiling will allow identification of individuals at risk of a suboptimal outcome. Adjuvant therapies are being developed to treat these individuals at risk so that they will experience the best possible outcome.

Professional highlights

• Director, Adult Upper Extremity Reconstructive Fellowship, Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education
• Associate Editor, Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery
• Recipient, Melvin Post Award, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, 2012
• Member, International Committee, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons