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Returning Patients to Their Active Lives

Orthopedic Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital: Returning Patients to Their Active Lives

Our department offers full-spectrum orthopedic subspecialty care at an academic level

By Jennifer Webster
Friday, November 10, 2017

Partnering with ColumbiaDoctors, the faculty practice of Columbia University Medical Center, to offer comprehensive orthopedics and sports medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital provides effective conservative management, advanced surgical treatments and rehabilitation medicine designed to help patients return to a high level of activity and mobility in both sports and routine activities of daily living.

 

 

Dr. Jeffrey Geller with fellow surgeons

George J. Zambetti Jr., MD; Jeffrey Geller, MD; Justin K. Greisberg, MD

Patients present with a wide range of conditions: older adults suffering from cumulative degenerative joint pain, college athletes eager to have a tendon repaired so they can regain a competitive edge and even children with playground fractures. Whether injuries are long in coming or traumatic and unexpected, the expert physicians at NYP Lawrence Hospital can manage every detail of care from stabilization through recovery.

“Our department offers full-spectrum orthopedic subspecialty care at an academic level,” says Jeffrey A. Geller, MD, newly appointed Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at NYP Lawrence and Chief of Hip & Knee Reconstruction at Columbia University Medical Center. “We have specialists in hip and knee replacement, hip and knee arthroplasty, and orthopedic trauma. We offer all aspects of sports medicine subspecialty coverage, specialty spine, hand and upper-extremity care, and specialty foot and ankle care.”

For patients from around the region, this means local access to world-class medicine practiced by orthopedists who are also professors at an academic medical center.

“We have a level of orthopedic knowledge that is completely different from anything else available in Westchester,” Dr. Geller says.

Meet the Physician: Jeffrey A. Geller, MD

Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital, Chief of Hip & Knee Reconstruction, and Nas S. Eftekhar Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Columbia University Medical Center, Dr. Geller studied medicine at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, followed by a residency at New Jersey Medical School. He completed a fellowship in adult joint reconstruction surgery at Harvard Medical School.

Orthopedic Surgeon, Jeffrey Geller, MD

Jeffrey Geller, MD, the new Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital and Chief of Hip & Knee Reconstruction at Columbia University Medical Center, is a nationally recognized leader in hip and knee replacement and reconstruction. He leads the group of Columbia University Medical Center faculty who make up the new Orthopedics and Sports Medicine program at NYP Lawrence Hospital.

Dr. Geller has published numerous scholarly articles on hip and knee replacement, garnering multiple awards for his research. He serves on the editorial boards of The Journal of Arthroplasty and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.

Dr. Geller is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Association of Hip & Knee Surgeons and the American Orthopaedic Association, and a member of the most prestigious academic organization for knee surgeons, The Knee Society. He is active in the development of new orthopedic techniques and has participated in industry partnerships to evaluate and improve joint replacement systems.

Dr. Geller and Deidre Cavanagh

The new orthopedics program includes a growing and dedicated clinical staff to provide additional support for the expanding surgical service. Dr. Geller reviews surgical equipment with orthopedics nursing team leader Deidre Cavanagh, RN.

Minimally Invasive Knee and Hip Replacement

At one time, knee surgery was a major procedure involving significant hospital stays. Today, however, NYP Lawrence offers minimally invasive partial replacements that can preserve two-thirds of the original joint, Dr. Geller says, along with all the knee ligaments.

Preserving the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments is especially important to making the knee “feel like a knee,” he says. Patients are more likely to be able to make dynamic cutting and twisting movements with these ligaments in place. The ability to spare both is a technological breakthrough, and patients return home the same day as surgery.

“This is life-altering,” Dr. Geller says. “Partial knee replacements work well for many years, and patients can go back to many intensely strenuous activities. Similarly, we now have the technology to do full knee replacements while keeping all of the native knee ligaments, a groundbreaking procedure available only at highly specialized orthopedic facilities.”

Hip surgery is performed in anterior, minimally invasive fashion at NYP Lawrence, with the accompanying reduction in pain and length of hospital stay. Dr. Geller also performs hip and knee revision surgeries. These are challenging, he says, but rewarding for patients who have suffered with a badly implanted joint.

“Some of my happiest patients are those who have had a poorly done knee replacement revised,” he says. “When you can turn an unstable, swollen joint into a sturdy knee, you give patients back the ability to participate fully in the activities of life that they value.”

A Partnership for Success

NYP Lawrence’s commitment to orthopedic success benefits patients throughout the area. In addition to Dr. Geller’s strong and steady leadership and the new faculty from ColumbiaDoctors, the hospital has made an institutional commitment to investing in state-of-the-art equipment and is opening clinics throughout the area.

“We are building a larger orthopedic trauma referral center for Westchester,” Dr. Geller says. “Once that’s set up, we will have a hotline patients can call if they fall or otherwise need orthopedic care — even if they are in another hospital — and we will transfer them in.”

This means any patient in the area has access to top-flight academic orthopedic specialty care.

“Whether you see us in Westchester or in New York City, we are part of the same group,” Dr. Geller says. “We are the only academic New York City hospital providing orthopedic care for patients in Westchester.”

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