Dr.  Tyler Welch was accepted into the International Society for Hip Arthroscopy, and Atlantic Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine will be introducing the hip arthroscopy procedure at York Hospital with a state-of-the-art operating table called the Guardian.

The Pivot Guardian System is a device produced by one of the nation’s lead medical suppliers, Stryker.  The Guardian is specifically designed to mitigate complications, as it limits the amount of force applied to a patient’s hip during surgery.  The Guardian also enables the surgeon to obtain better visualization of the hip during surgery compared to other operating tables. 

The system’s boots enhance patient comfort and safety during surgery, and the surgeon can make precise range of motion adjustments during hip surgery with the Guardian.

The demand for hip arthroscopy is increasing every year, and surgeons in the US are projected to perform 271,000 hip arthroscopy procedures by the year 2021. This will be a compounded annual growth rate of 18.5%, compared to a 3.9% projected growth in shoulder arthroscopy and 1.6% projected growth in knee arthroscopy by the same year. 

Atlantic Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine is a leading practice on the Seacoast for orthopaedics and sports medicine. They have offices in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and York, Maine and physicians have full medical staff privileges at both Portsmouth Regional Hospital and York Hospital. 

Portsmouth, NH – Dr. Tyler Welch, a physician at Atlantic Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, recently published an article in the Journal of Experimental Orthopaedics. It is titled The Effect of a Dynamic PCL Brace on Patellofemoral Compartment Pressures in PCL-and PCL/PLC-Deficient Knees.

The study examines the PCL, or posterior cruciate ligament, located in the back of the knee. One of four major ligaments of the knee, it connects the femur (thighbone) to the tibia (shinbone). In a controlled laboratory study, Dr. Welch and five colleagues explored a deficiency of the PCL leading to arthritis in the patellofemoral knee joint, and evaluated the hypothesis that dynamic bracing reduces pressure in the knee joint in PCL-deficient knees. Coauthors of the study were Thomas Keller, Ruben Maldonado, Melodie Metzger, Karen Mohr and Ronald Kvitne.

The Journal of Experimental Orthopaedics is an international journal that aims to bridge the gap between orthopaedic basic science and clinical medicine, and publishes works that examine the field of experimental orthopaedics. Each published article goes through peer review and is upheld to the high quality standards of the Journal.

Dr. Welch is a physician at Atlantic Orthopaedics who specializes in cartilage restoration, sports medicine, joint replacement, and arthroscopic surgery of the hip, knee and shoulder. He is the lead doctor of the clinic’s Cartilage Center, a place for patients experiencing joint pain and early arthritis. Dr. Welch is affiliated with the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the Arthroscopy Association of North America.

Atlantic Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine is a group of Board-Certified physicians who utilize the latest concepts in orthopaedics and sports medicine, coupled with preventive and surgical techniques. For more information, visit www.atlanticorthopaedics.org.