Highly qualified orthopedic surgeons at Ministry hospitals employ today’s most advanced techniques and technologies to perform dramatic corrective procedures, often with minimally invasive surgery that enables patients to recover quicker and with less discomfort.

Orthopedic Subspecialties

Many orthopedic surgeons pursue subspecialty training in programs (fellowships) after completing their residency training. Orthopedic fellowships typically last one or two years, with research, clinical and operative components. Examples of orthopedic subspecialties are:

1. Hand surgery
2. Shoulder and elbow surgery
3. Total joint reconstruction
4. Pediatric orthopedics
5. Foot and ankle surgery
6. Spine surgery
7. Musculoskeletal oncology
8. Surgical sports medicine
9. Orthopedic trauma

Pediatric orthopedics

Caring for children with muscoloskeletal problems presents a specialized field of orthopedic surgery. Due to their high activity levels and immature skeletons, children often incur various injuries, including fractures. Treatment of their fractures is different than for adults due to their still-active bone growth plates. Special care must be taken to avoid damage to the growth plate that can lead to problems with later bone growth.

Children may encounter other unique musculoskeletal conditions, including clubfoot, congenital hip dislocation (also known as developmental dysplasia of the hip) and infections in bones and joints. At Ministry Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Marshfield, partnering with Marshfield Clinic pediatric physicians and surgeons, provides a substantial portion of treatment for children with musculoskeletal injuries, deformities and diseases.

Adult orthopedic specialties

It is common practice at Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield for orthopedic physicians with a particular specialty to provide care for a unique patient population. Emerging specialties in the field of medicine include orthopedic oncology and orthopedic trauma — both of which are represented by Marshfield Clinic specialists who practice at the Marshfield campus.

What’s more, for complex spine cases, a team of neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons in Marshfield performs some of the most sophisticated surgical procedures available anywhere.

Sports Medicine

Sports medicine is not a single specialty, but an area that combines the services of health care professionals, researchers and educators from a wide variety of disciplines to provide treatment and preventive care for athletes, both amateur and professional. The full concept of sports medicine includes specialty physicians and surgeons, athletic trainers, physical therapists, coaches and others. Representing a growing orthopedic subspecialty, sports medicine in the orthopedic sense is focused on relieving pain and providing healing and quick recovery (rehabilitation) of injured athletes to their full capability.

Sports medicine services are provided in the Stevens Point (Portage County), Rhinelander (Oneida County) and Minocqua/Woodruff (Vilas County) areas by Ministry Health Care athletic trainers, who counsel athletes on injury prevention techniques while assisting with training to improve strength and performance. All three programs include outpatient physical therapy and oversight by a board-certified physician medical director.

Physicians in Ministry’s orthopedic program are part of an interdisciplinary team that work together to bring comprehensive support to athletes, athletic programs and active individuals. Patients in this field of care can include school-age athletes in organized competition; joggers, weight lifters or others engaging in personal fitness regimens, and “weekend warriors” — the hobby golfers, tennis players, canoeists and others prone to activity-related injuries.

General orthopedics

• ARTHROSCOPY
Ministry orthopedists perform arthroscopic surgeries — minimally invasive procedures for examination and re-construction of ACLs, torn or damaged ligaments or cartilage, or damage within a joint. A small camera-like instrument (arthroscope) is employed in these procedures to provide a detailed, real-time view for surgeons on a video monitor, eliminating the need for larger incisions to provide clear visual access to the surgery site. Due to the smaller incision, and less associated trauma, arthroscopy patients can recover from their surgery in a matter of days, rather than the weeks to months associated with conventional, “open” surgery, and scarring is greatly minimized. Knee arthroscopy is one of the most common orthopedic operations – to repair or remove a torn cartilage. Procedures are also applied to other joints — the knee, shoulder, elbow, wrist, ankle and hip.

• TOTAL JOINT REPLACEMENT
Total replacement of a hip, knee or other joint (including shoulder, elbow, wrist, ankle and finger) involves replacing damaged or degraded joint surfaces with metal, high-density plastic or ceramic implants cemented to the bone. The procedure is applied to relieve pain and restore motion or mobility. Previously, joint surface replacement, particularly for the hip joint, has been more common among senior-age patients, but today procedures are increasingly popular for younger and more active patients, offering long-term resistance to wear.