{"id":797968,"date":"2019-07-25T09:00:51","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=369110"},"modified":"2019-07-25T09:00:51","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T15:00:51","slug":"in-sports-medicine-regenerative-treatments-are-finding-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/in-sports-medicine-regenerative-treatments-are-finding-success\/","title":{"rendered":"In sports medicine, regenerative treatments are finding success"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Regenerative medicine offers many gratifying results for physicians, such as returning patients to their favorite physical activities including skiing, running and swimming.<\/strong>
Shutterstock image<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Regenerative therapy treatments in orthopaedic medicine have been shown to help limit the need for pain medications and even surgery for some patients, which is why these noninvasive procedures with little to no recovery time are becoming increasingly popular in sports medicine.<\/p>\n

Dr. Matthew Gnirke, whose primary specialty is Interventional Sports and Spine Medicine, is joining Vail Summit Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery in August. When appropriate for patients\u2019 specific conditions and needs, Gnirke provides evidence-based orthobiologic treatments \u2014 including platelet rich plasma (PRP) and bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) stem cells \u2014 to manage a variety of musculoskeletal disorders. <\/p>\n

\u201cRegenerative medicine focuses on using the body\u2019s own proteins and cells to promote the natural healing process. This helps to limit the need for pain medications and surgery, which carry a more troubling side effect profile when compared to regenerative treatments,\u201d Dr. Gnirke said. <\/p>\n

While appropriate for some patients, these treatments might not be a replacement or alternative to surgery for others. <\/p>\n

Specific diagnoses<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Gnirke said the first step of a successful treatment plan is the proper diagnosis and localization of pathology. <\/p>\n

\u201cI accomplish this by obtaining a careful history and physical examination, reviewing imaging studies and providing real-time musculoskeletal ultrasound diagnostics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Specific diagnoses that are particularly well suited for such a treatment include arthritis, disc degeneration, degenerative and traumatic tendon injuries, meniscus and labrum pathology, and nerve injuries. In order to deliver these treatments to the exact site of pathology, Dr. Gnirke utilizes fluoroscopy and ultrasound guidance for all procedures. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe central focus of my practice is to precisely diagnose and properly treat patients with musculoskeletal disorders,\u201d Dr. Gnirke said. \u201cI perform diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound and electromyography to pinpoint exact sites injury and pair this with fluoroscopy and ultrasound-guided interventions to deliver accurate treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continuum of treatment options<\/strong><\/p>\n

Regenerative treatments are best suited for musculoskeletal disorders that have failed to improve with activity modification, therapy, and anti-inflammatory medications and can often eliminate the need for invasive surgical procedures. <\/p>\n

While regenerative medicine is a new and exciting treatment option for several orthopedic conditions, it is not necessarily the best treatment in every situation or for every patient, Dr. Gnirke said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI also enjoy helping patients navigate their recovery with a concentration on injury prevention, physical therapy and exercise-based treatments, conventional anti-inflammatory medications and injections, as well as surgical discussions and referrals when needed,\u201d he added. \u201cMy goal is to match a careful treatment plan with a patient\u2019s diagnosis and circumstance that best suits them remaining as active, pain-free, and healthy as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n

Always a role for surgery<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Gnirke said there will always be a role for surgery in musculoskeletal medicine. He does not characterize these regenerative treatments as a one-for-one replacement for surgery. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf surgery is indicated and is the best next step in a treatment plan, I will discuss this and facilitate referral for high quality surgical care,\u201d Dr. Gnirke said. \u201cI have found the best success \u2014 in terms of avoiding the need for surgery \u2014 with mild-moderate arthritis, meniscus and labrum degeneration, degenerative tendinopathy of the shoulder and hip, and degenerative disc disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benefits of regenerative medicine<\/strong><\/p>\n

Historically, the treatment for orthopedic conditions has focused largely on treating symptoms and not improving or curing the underlying disease process. Regenerative medicine is unique in that way as it focuses on treatment of the primary issue and not the secondary symptoms. This, coupled with the relatively low side effect profile, short recovery time, and high success rate, has made regenerative treatments a very popular and exciting new advance in medicine. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is also limited down time after a regenerative procedure, which is typically one to two weeks and far shorter than surgery,\u201d Dr. Gnirke said.<\/p>\n

The success rate for regenerative treatments varies depending on the specific diagnosis and patient. Dr. Gnirke said success rates are difficult to discuss broadly, which is why a consultation to determine the proper diagnosis, severity, and associated health related issues is so important for prognostication with regenerative medicine. That said, regenerative treatments generally provide significant long-term improvement in pain and dysfunction in 50 to 90 percent of patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been particularly impressed with the results of regenerative treatments for the management of knee osteoarthritis, tendon disorders, and degenerative disc disease,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Regenerative medicine offers many gratifying results for physicians, such as returning patients to their favorite physical activities including skiing, running and swimming. Dr. Gnirke has seen patients with tendon-related pain find relief to be able to enjoy quality, pain-free sleep again. And, he has seen many first responders with chronic low back pain return to their physically demanding jobs pain-free. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an honor and privilege to participate in cases like this as a physician,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Dr. Matthew Gnirke, whose primary specialty is Interventional Sports and Spine Medicine, is joining Vail Summit Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery in August. He completed his residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Colorado, where he was chief resident. Subsequent to this, Dr. Gnirke went on to advanced fellowship training with Dr. Marko Bodor in Napa, California. His fellowship training was focused on the practice of interventional sports and spine with an emphasis on regenerative medicine. <\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Regenerative medicine offers many gratifying results for physicians, such as returning patients to their favorite physical activities including skiing, running and swimming.Shutterstock image Regenerative therapy treatments in orthopaedic medicine have been shown to help limit the need for pain medications and even surgery for some patients, which is why these noninvasive procedures with little to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-797968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 09:02:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797968\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}