When you have suffered a traumatic musculoskeletal injury like a broken bone, the consequences can seem overwhelming. It is important to have the right medical team, the right treatment plan, and the best possible care.
Traumatic injuries demand expert care; their treatment requires highly specialized training of the physician. The Orthopedic Trauma Center at Orthopedic Specialists of SW Florida provides this type of care. We have the experience needed to manage traumatic musculoskeletal injury and we understand the effects it can have on your life. Our Trauma patients receive comprehensive fracture and traumatic musculoskeletal injury care, so that they can return to functional and productive lifestyles.
When treating a fracture, the ultimate goal is maintaining as close to perfect alignment as possible while the new bone formed to heal the fracture develops. In order to do that, we need to stabilize fractures. The methods we use when stabilizing broken bones include:
Metal implants are used to stabilize fractures and are only meant to serve in the short term until the healing process can occur. Once the fracture is healed, the implant is unnecessary but is often left in place because the patient would require another, unnecessary surgery to remove it. No metal implants last forever and biologic healing of the fracture must occur or the implant will fail or break.
Patient outcomes following a traumatic injury can vary. While the severity of a patient’s injury, as well as a number of other factors, significantly affect the final outcome for any patient, the most important element in recovery is the patient’s contribution and attitude towards healing. We frequently see patients that, while having severe injuries, have remarkable recoveries, which are largely due to the patient’s own determination and hard work.
Physical therapy plays an important role on the road to recovery from a traumatic injury. It can take many forms including home physical therapy, outpatient physical therapy, and home exercise programs. Time with a physical therapist is designed to educate the patient about exercises and techniques to recover from their injury. Visits to physical therapy are very important, but the most important form of physical therapy is daily exercise done on the patient’s own time. We encourage patients to be dedicated as much as possible in their physical therapy to achieve the best outcome.
We strive to complete all requested insurance and disability paperwork in a timely manner; however, this paperwork will usually not be available on the day we receive it. We can fax the paperwork once it has been completed.
We recognize that a traumatic musculoskeletal injury is a major unplanned financial burden that can affect a patient’s income. Our billing office will work diligently with you to find resources for assistance if necessary. As long as patients are open to work with the billing staff on creating a scheduled payment plan, we can work with most financial situations.
Dr. Patrick Leach, MD - Dr. Leach is a fellowship-trained surgeon specializing in Orthopedic Trauma Surgery. When Dr. Leach joined OSSWF in 2007, he was the first and only orthopedic trauma surgeon in Southwest Florida for over 10 years.