Drs. Sean Nork and David Barei are the orthopaedic traumatologists who specialize in nonunions and malunions. All are UW associate professors of orthopaedics and sports medicine and have vast experience in the area, treating hundreds of these types of cases each year.
Physician Bios
According to the physicians, fractured fragments may not heal correctly for a variety of reasons and may cause a nonunion. If union occurs in a displaced location (malunion), chronic medical issues may result due to bone length inequality among other problems. If the fracture heals in a good location, the patient may have few symptoms as a result.
“We provide numerous orthopedic services including skeletal realignments and stabilizations using closed, percutaneous, external, and internal fixation techniques,” says Nork. “Similarly, we treat associated soft tissue injuries using a variety of methods. Another of our services is advancing the orthopedic trauma education of physicians and medical personnel – locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. We also provide innovative orthopedic trauma research, which further improves clinical care.”
Orthopedic conditions treated and procedures done at the Post-Traumatic Reconstruction clinic include:
- Osteotomies to correct malunions.
- Intraanticular osteotomies.
- Nonunion repairs.
- Multiligament reconstruction.
- Cartilage repair and grafting.
- Osteotomies to prevent arthritis in young patients (under age 50).
- Joint contractures including treatment of the stiff knee.
Often, these conditions are painful to the patient and can cause other medical problems in the future. Physicians should be contacted as soon as a problem such as those noted above is recognized. Physicians will need to review the radiographs, surgical notes and any other necessary documentation. They will coordinate the orthopedic portion of the patient’s care with other subspecialties in order to optimize the clinical outcome.
We are fully committed to our referring physicians in the region and our patient population. We strive to keep our lines of communication open and will work with referring physicians to provide the best possible outcome for the patient. We firmly believe post-operative rehabilitation and care can and should be done close to the patient’s home. Our goal is to get patients back to a more functional life.