Orthopedic care

As you age, adding a bone density screening to your annual medical checkup is a good idea. As you reach menopause, women are at a particularly high risk for osteoporosis, a bone-thinning disease increasing the likelihood of fractures and damage to the bones.

We offer dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans, the gold standard bone density test for diagnosing osteoporosis. DEXA scans use a small amount of radiation to take images of the bones in the body, which are used to determine your overall bone density.

To schedule a bone screening appointment, please call (303) 320-2568.

Our orthopedic surgeons work with you to resolve your symptoms with conservative approaches, whenever possible. However, surgery is considered when nonsurgical treatments do not resolve your symptoms. Our surgical practices include:

• Foot and ankle care, including ankle fusion and ankle arthroplasty (replacement)
• Hand and upper extremity care
• Joint replacement surgery, including hip, knee and shoulder
• Neck and spine care

Hip replacement surgery

During a total hip replacement procedure, your orthopedic surgeon replaces an arthritic or injured joint with an artificial joint, called a prosthesis.

There are three basic parts to the artificial hip joint:

• The acetabulum cup is a metal shell with a plastic liner, which is placed into your hip socket.
• The femoral head (ball) snaps onto the stem and rotates just like a natural hip in the hip socket.
• The femoral stem is a metal shaft that is inserted into your thigh bone.

The cup and stem are either cemented in place or designed to have your own bone grow and adhere to the implant.

Minimally invasive hip replacement surgery

When appropriate, our surgeons use a minimally invasive technique for hip replacement known as the "anterior approach." The anterior approach involves a three to four inch incision on the front of the hip. The location of the incision allows the surgeon to work around muscle instead of cutting through it.

The anterior approach usually brings about faster recoveries than with the traditional surgery. Your surgeon will help determine which approach is best for you based on your age, bone density, medications and anatomy.

We provide these resources to help you get started:

• Anterior approach guidebook
• Posterior approach guidebook

Knee replacement surgery

Our knee doctors perform total knee replacements when all three knee bones are damaged or diseased. During the procedure, all three knee bones are removed and replaced with prostheses. The prostheses may be made of metal, plastic, ceramic or a combination of these materials.

In some cases, there may only be damage on one side of the knee. In this case, a partial knee replacement may be a better option because only the damaged side of the joint is resurfaced.

To get started, you can view our knee replacement guidebook.

Shoulder replacement surgery

Our orthopedic surgeons perform partial, total and reverse shoulder replacement surgeries to treat damaged shoulder joints. We offer three types of this surgery:

• Reverse shoulder replacement, where the normal ball-and-socket relationship is reversed, creating a more stable joint. This type of procedure is performed if you have a damaged shoulder joint and a damaged rotator cuff.
• Shoulder hemiarthroplasty, also known as a humeral head resurfacing or partial shoulder replacement, involves replacing only the humeral head of the shoulder joint (the humeral head is the "ball" of the shoulder's ball-and-socket joint).
• Total shoulder arthroplasty, where both the humeral head and the glenoid socket are replaced with prosthetic implants.

If you would like to learn a little more, view our shoulder replacement guidebook.

Once you have been properly discharged, you typically will experience some discomfort. However, the days, sometimes weeks, of discomfort are usually a relief compared to the chronic joint pain you experienced before.

It is common for you to be able to engage in low-impact activities, such as swimming, walking, bicycling and golfing, after only several weeks of rehabilitation and recovery.

Our sports medicine program focuses on the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of sports injuries. With this type of comprehensive care, it is our priority to get you back to your sport as quickly and safely as possible.

Because physical therapy is a critical element in recovering from a sports-related injury, we offer outpatient physical therapy services for your convenience. Through an individualized rehabilitation plan for your injury, our therapists will help you heal and regain strength.