Orthopedic care at Rose Medical Center

Orthopedic specialists in Denver, Colorado

At the Rose Medical Center Orthopedic and Spine Center, our board-certified orthopedic doctors specialize in spine care, sports medicine and joint replacement surgery. We take time to accurately diagnose your condition and provide education and appropriate treatments for a successful recovery. We also offer continued care through our comprehensive physical therapy and rehabilitation program, which helps you regain strength and range of motion following treatment.

For more information or a physician referral to Rose Medical Center's orthopedics program, please call (303) 374-0755.

Bone screening

As you age, adding a bone density screening to your annual medical checkup is a good idea. Women especially are at an increased risk for osteoporosis—a bone-thinning disease increasing the likelihood of fractures and damage to the bones—as they reach menopause.

Rose Medical Center offers the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan, 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 the density of the bones.

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

Comprehensive orthopedic surgery center of excellence

Our orthopedic surgery program features:

• A dedicated orthopedic and spine patient navigator
• A multidisciplinary team of orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, nurses trained in orthopedics and spine care, social workers and occupational and physical therapists
• Access to an on-site Surgical Readiness Department, which offers preoperative clearance examinations, lab and imaging tests, patient and family preoperative education and information about optimizing your recovery
• Convenient online preregistration through our MyHealthONE patient portal to document your information and health history, saving you time on the day of surgery
• Free preoperative education classes for joint replacement, as well on on-demand videos for patients who can’t attend the classes in-person
• Local travel accommodations with a special rate for our patients
• Patient guidebooks specific to knee, hip, spine and shoulder surgeries to educate you about what to expect before, during and after surgery
• Physical therapy and rehabilitation to aid in a healthy recovery
• Apple TVs in each room to wirelessly access educational and entertainment content
• Surgeon participation in world-class joint fellowship program

Patient navigator

We provide a dedicated patient navigator to guide you through your orthopedic surgery experience.

Our patient navigator will:

• Communicate with you following your surgery
• Ensure you are aware of the many educational offerings about your upcoming surgery
• Facilitate communication between all members of the healthcare team
• Help you consider any planning before surgery
• Provide a personalized touch to orthopedic and spine care by visiting you during your hospital stay

Foot and ankle care

Foot and ankle care is essential to your mobility. We diagnose and treat a wide range of foot and ankle conditions, including:

• Achilles tendon rupture
• Ankle fractures, sprains and strains
• Athlete’s foot
• Bunions
• Bursitis of the toe
• Calluses and corns
• Diabetic foot ulcer
• Dislocated toe
• Foot fracture
• Gout
• Hammer toe
• Tendinopathy
• Toe fracture
• Turf toe

We work with you to resolve your symptoms with conservative approaches. However, surgery is considered when nonsurgical treatments do not resolve your symptoms. Two common procedures we perform include ankle fusion and ankle arthroplasty (replacement).

Hand and upper extremity care

Our orthopedists also provide comprehensive hand and upper extremity care. Some of the conditions we treat include:

Joint replacement surgery

As part of our joint care program, we are dedicated to preserving and restoring our patients' joint health. When nonsurgical treatments do not relieve joint pain or heal joint injuries, we may suggest surgery.

In these cases, we offer comprehensive joint replacement programs for:

• Hip replacement surgery
• Knee replacement surgery
• Shoulder replacement surgery

Hip replacement

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 stem is a metal shaft that is inserted into your thigh bone.
• The femoral head (ball) snaps onto the stem and rotates just like a natural hip in the hip socket.

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.

Many patients experience faster recoveries after the anterior approach for hip replacement than with the traditional (anterior) approach.

Your surgeon will help determine which approach is best for you based on your age, bone density, medications and anatomy.

Knee replacement

The knee joint is comprised of ligaments and three bones:

• Femur (thigh bone)
• Patella (knee cap)
• Tibia (shin bone)

Our 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.

For some patients, 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.

View knee replacement guidebook

Shoulder replacement

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

• A 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.)
• During a total shoulder arthroplasty, both the humeral head and the glenoid socket are replaced with prosthetic implants.
• In a reverse shoulder replacement, 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.

View shoulder replacement guidebook

Recovering from joint replacement surgery

Most patients only experience discomfort in the days and weeks following their procedure. However, this is often a relief compared to the years of chronic joint pain most patients experienced.

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

Spine care

Back pain is a common ailment that can limit your mobility and quality of life—but we can help. From diagnosis to rehabilitation, we provide comprehensive spine care for conditions of the back, neck and spine.

Sports medicine

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.