Orthopedic Spine Surgeon Alex Vaccaro - Medical Murmurs - S01E21

Dr. Alex Vaccaro is an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spine surgery including traumatic spinal injuries. He is the Chair of Orthopedic Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and the President of Rothman Orthopedics, one of the leading orthopedic institutions in the United States.

We talk about the importance of hope. "So when his mom says to me, will my son walk again, I say, you know something, I don't know the answer to that, but I hope so because time will tell . . . I have patients come in who are paralyzed, but we've intervened early and I've seen miracles, I call it miracles because I've sent patients paralyzed that have walked out of rehab.

"You know, you operate on someone, they become a family member. If you have a complication with a patient, they move into your house. I mean you, you have to make sure they're doing great."

Dr. Vaccaro describes the measures Rothman is undertaking as the COVID-19 lockdowns are scaled back, and elective orthopedic and spine surgeries resume. "If you walk through the door, it's like a gauntlet. 'Hi, let me take your forehead temperature. Hi, let me take your pulse oximetry.' We test all the patients we operate on 48 hours before. So every patient gets tested. Potentially people are less likely to come out with a nosocomial illness now than six months ago with this much generalized precautions in place."

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