Orthopedics

Nestled just outside the Texas Medical Center with convenient access from major interstates, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center McNair Campus is home to state-of-the-art orthopedic care. Our surgery center provides cutting-edge techniques, including minimally invasive surgery, robotic-assisted reconstructive procedures, and rapid recovery approaches. Our recovery and inpatient units are staffed by experienced nurses and physical therapists who are dedicated to orthopedic care. The McNair Campus also houses multispecialty clinics, laboratories, and imaging for convenience and optimal care coordination. Our surgeons are fellowship-trained and experts in their subspecialties. Whether it is a bunion correction or complex joint replacement, we strive to provide a stress-free experience and the highest quality of care for patients.

The orthopedic physicians at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center form a team of highly trained, skilled subspecialists. Together, we focus on advancing care for patients through innovative treatment approaches that simultaneously incorporate the latest translational research advances and evidence-based strategies.

Orthopedic surgical care at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center

William Granberry, MD, DSC

Chair of Orthopedic Surgery Dr. William Granberry

A Message From Chair of Orthopedic Surgery Dr. William Granberry

The Musculoskeletal Service Line at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center is composed of dedicated medical and surgical specialists whose singular focus is treating patients with muscle, nerve, bone, and joint injuries or disorders through a highly collaborative approach, then returning them to their active lives as rapidly as possible. Our orthopedic surgeons are internationally renowned subspecialists in their fields who leverage the latest translational research and innovations in care while rigorously evaluating outcomes as a means to constantly improve.

Below, you will find descriptions of cutting-edge orthopedic surgical care provided at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center. All efforts focus on individualized patient treatment through collaborative, multidisciplinary teams of experts utilizing innovative techniques and protocols that translate to improved patient outcomes.

A critical feature that distinguishes the orthopedic surgical services at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center from others locally and nationally is our unrelenting effort to improve through innovation and thoughtful incorporation of translational scientific discoveries, often by our own Baylor College of Medicine investigators within the Center for Skeletal Medicine and Biology as well as the Rolanette and Berdon Lawrence Bone Disease Program of Texas. Ongoing work related to the determination of the mechanisms of bone development, repair, and aging is just one example.

Orthopedic surgery faculty, as well as those within the Musculoskeletal Service Line at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, are national thought leaders who publish and lecture extensively, educating not only those in training but also their colleagues in practice around the world. They are the best, and they are here for you.

Sincerely,

William Granberry, MD, DSC
Chair of Orthopedic Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine

Meet Dr. Mohamad Halawi

Dr. Mohamad Halawi is an expert in hip and knee replacement, including partial, minimally invasive, robotic, and revision surgeries. His focus on patient-centered care emphasizes individualized techniques and technologies, as well as specifically designed recovery protocols to achieve superior outcomes for each patient.

Dr. Halawi, chief quality officer for musculoskeletal services at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, is a driving force in same-day discharge and opioid-free joint replacement.This is possible thanks to a number of perioperative advancements and safer analgesia protocols that target the pain pathway at multiple levels, even before the start of the operative procedure.

As a dedicated physician-scientist and director of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery’s Clinical Research and Outcomes Center, his areas of investigation include joint biomechanics, value-based medicine, predictive modeling, machine learning and artificial intelligence, outcomes-based data analytics, and health policy. Dr. Halawi has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and other publications on these and other subjects.

Meet Dr. Theodore Shybut

As a sports medicine and reconstructive knee, shoulder, and elbow orthopaedic surgery specialist, Dr. Theodore Shybut’s practice is broad but with a focus on complex surgery. He performs a high volume of advanced knee joint preservation cases, including revision anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, articular cartilage restoration, and meniscus allograft transplantation, often in combination.

Dr. Shybut uses cutting-edge technology to individualize care. For example, he employs CT-based planning for reverse and anatomic (stemless) shoulder replacements and biologic augmentation of rotator cuff repairs.

Clinicians working together to advance care

By leveraging the medical expertise within Baylor Medicine, as well as working seamlessly with specialized therapists and allied health care providers, we are able to ease pain, restore function, and quickly return our patients to their active lives.

Comprehensive Services

Surgical Specialties

Fragility fracture and clinical translational research

Orthopedic trauma care

Baylor College of Medicine orthopedic trauma subspecialists are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, providing treatment for patients presenting to Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, as well as other public and private facilities within the Texas Medical Center that lack this level of expertise. Our highly integrated, multidisciplinary Fragility Fracture team at Baylor St. Luke’s includes specialists in geriatrics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and other subspecialties. These experts provide individualized care for aged fracture patients, emphasizing rapid fracture stabilization and post-operative patient mobilization as a means to avoid known complications and return these individuals to their normal lives.

Age-related bone fragility

The integration of translational research and innovation into orthopedic clinical care, as seen in the Fragility Fracture Program, sets Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center apart as a top-tier academic health care institution. Dr. Florent Elefteriou, associate director of the Center for Skeletal Medicine and Biology at Baylor, investigates the complex interactions between the brain and bone cells. His laboratory studies the contribution of autonomic nerves to the progressive bone loss experienced in everyone as a function of aging, beginning in the third decade of life. Through targeted studies, they have been able to demonstrate that drugs, safely used for the management of cardiovascular diseases, have a protective effect against the bone fragility associated with aging. These findings have direct implications in the care of elderly fracture patients.

Orthopedic surgeons offer recipe for successful same-day hip and knee replacements

Needing a surgical procedure in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic may seem daunting for many, so options where patients do not require a hospital stay are optimal.

Dr. Mohamad Jamal Halawi, chief quality officer for musculoskeletal services at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, explains how he is able to perform same-day hip and knee replacements.

“It is important to resist the tunnel vision where one looks only at the hip or the knee. Rather, I am interested in the whole patient. What is their social support system like? What medical problems do they have? We want the best possible outcomes for patients, and the optimization process starts from day one.”

It’s important to address any active medical issues so that once the patient has the surgery, their hip and knee have their undivided attention, Halawi said.

Because Halawi educates his patients about exercises and has them start on these exercises ahead of surgery, patients rarely need to seek physical therapy after their joint replacement. This means one less outing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Halawi also involves a patient’s caregiver to ensure that the patient has the support and reassurance they will need for a successful recovery.

“While most patients are able to independently care for themselves, teaming up with caregivers can help further improve their recovery,” he said.

One of the biggest anxieties that patients tend to have is about pain. However, Halawi has found that the vast majority of his patients do not require opioids to manage their post-surgical pain. In general, Halawi said that most patients are able to manage pain using over-the-counter pain medications.

Halawi, who is an avid scientist and the director of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery Outcomes Center at Baylor, emphasizes that this is possible thanks to a number of perioperative advancements. These include minimally invasive surgery, better anesthesia techniques, and safer analgesia protocols that target the pain pathway at many levels and even preempt it before the surgery.

“It is a powerful experience when a patient wakes up after surgery not having any pain. We are now able to stand ahead of the pain and avoid having to catch up like we used to do in the past,” he said.

Last but not least, being easily available to address patient questions or concerns following procedures is another very important ingredient for successful same-day surgery.

“What used to take us days to achieve, now we can achieve in literally an hour or two after patients wake up from anesthesia,” Halawi said. “When you talk about a situation like the COVID-19 pandemic, where patients may be anxious, and understandably so, providing the option to recover safely and effectively from the comfort of one’s home is important, as delaying surgery will only prolong pain and reduce function.”

Halawi emphasizes that there is no cookie-cutter approach for all patients. It’s important to take a personalized approach and understand where each patient is coming from, tackle their concerns, and offer a more tailored procedure that meets their individual needs. This leads to a smoother recovery following surgery.

Meet Dr. Cahill

Dr. Catherine Cahill is trained in non-operative and operative musculoskeletal care and specializes in hip and knee surgery. She is affiliated with Kelsey Seybold.

Dr. Catherine Cahill explains how she is able to perform same-day hip and knee replacements and why most of her patients do not require strong pain medications, such as opioids, during recovery.

“There is a recipe for success to go home on the same day of the surgery while still maintaining the same recovery criteria as those who require overnight hospitalization or longer. What I do is facilitate patients achieving those milestones a lot quicker,” said Cahill.

Why is diversity for women and minorities important in orthopedic surgery?

Orthopedic surgery is the least diverse medical specialty in terms of both gender and those under-represented in medicine (URM). A diverse orthopedic workforce is a key component in addressing health disparities and inequities.

In 2013, the percentage of women residents in orthopedic surgery was 14%. Despite current medical school classes being split evenly by sex, the percentage of women in orthopedic surgery residencies has remained fairly constant (between 13% and 15%) for the past decade. In 2016, 86.6% of orthopedic surgeons reported as Caucasian, 6.7% reported as Asian, 1.7% reported as Hispanic or Latino, 1.5% reported as African American, 1.2% reported as multiracial, 1.7% reported as other, and 0.4% reported as Native American. The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that Asians, African Americans, Hispanics, and Latinos will soon compose 30% of the population, and by 2042, will be greater than 50%. Minority physicians continue to provide the majority of care for underserved and non-English speaking populations.

While the U.S. population has become more diverse, the orthopedic surgery workforce has not kept pace. Efforts will need to be made at the departmental, institutional, and national organizational levels to improve these conditions.

Sports medicine and sports surgery

Baylor College of Medicine sports medicine experts at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center are leaders in developing surgical techniques and performing complex reconstructive knee, shoulder, and elbow surgeries. Our team performs high volumes of common sports procedures, such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions, rotator cuff repairs, arthroscopic shoulder stabilizations, sports injury repairs of the elbow, and open shoulder surgeries, including anatomic total shoulder arthroplasties and reverse shoulder replacements. We offer special expertise on complex and revision surgeries, such as revision ligament reconstructions in the knee, meniscus allograft transplants, articular cartilage restorations, osteotomies of the knee, Latarjet and superior capsule reconstructions in the shoulder, ulnar collateral ligament (Tommy John) elbow surgeries, and revision shoulder arthroplasties.

Our sports medicine specialists are dedicated to developing and applying new technology in an effort to optimize patient/athlete outcomes with the goal of getting people back to a high level of activity. Dr. Shybut has been an early adopter of new rotator cuff repair technology and has become sought after in the industry to help fine-tune and develop new products to optimize clinical applications. Dr. Jayaram is a national expert in orthobiologics and a leader in laboratory, translational, and clinical applications of biological treatments like platelet-rich plasma and FDA-approved stem cell-derived procedures for orthopedic conditions.