For more than 20 years, the team of board-certified physicians and surgeons at the Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Center of Miami has been applying cutting- edge techniques and technology to getting athletes off the sidelines and back to doing what they love.
Now, with the addition of ultrasound diagnostics, state-of-the-art orthobiological treatment and a 1,900-squarefoot physical therapy and strength and conditioning center conveniently located across the hall from their main office, they’ve expanded their range of care to provide patients with seamless treatment from injury all the way to full recovery.
“Basically, you treat the athlete for the injury and then you get them back to their sport ,and nowadays you want to do that quicker and have them return even better than they were before,” said Dr. Daniel G. Kalbac, orthopedic surgeon who heads up the practice. “With our expansion, you don’t have to wait for a response from each area of care because we’re always on the same page. We have it all right here, which is phenomenal.”
Patients of Dr. Kalbac, Dr. Christopher LeMay and Dr. Sam Ash — who bring more than 80 years of combined experience in sports medicine — have become accustomed to expecting only the most current approaches to every form of surgical, nonsurgical and therapeutic approaches to diagnosing and treating sports medicine injuries. Now, with the implementation of several new therapeutic services including diagnostic ultrasound and intra-articular injections performed by Dr. Kalbac, Dr. LeMay and their team of physicians’ assistants, patients are recovering and returning to the field faster, stronger and healthier.
The physical therapy and sport-specific training programs are overseen by sports medicine clinician and certified athletic trainer Matthew Santos-Vitorino, who also serves as an intermediary between the practice’s two sides of care.
“That’s the beautiful part. If we, as a staff — whether it be the physical therapists or myself, the strength and conditioning coach — want to progress somebody, change the protocol or ask the doctor a question, we’re just across the hallway,” Santos-Vitorino said. “The doctor can come over, see them in motion and determine whether they’re ready to move on and change up their game or not.”
Another exciting development is the implementation of innovative orthobiologic procedures such as platelet rich plasma treatment (PRP), which acts as a catalyst in healing tendon injuries and osteoarthritis pain, and precursor cell therapy, which have a wide array of cell regenerative applications.
Both platelet rich plasma and precursor cells exist naturally in the body and, when used in concentrated doses, can help speed up the healing process. They can be used in a variety of sites on the body, including tendons, ligaments and muscles of the shoulder, elbow, knee and ankle.
“They’ve been doing orthobiologics in Europe for years, so our country is kind lagging there, but we’re catching up now,” Dr. Kalbac said.
“Now we have the technology to do that kind of treatment —to get regular people and highlevel athletes back to what they were doing faster and better than ever.”
The Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Center of Miami is located at 6701 Sunset Dr., Suite 201. For more information, call 305-661-7601 or visit online at www.MiamiSportsDoc.net.
