I always watch my kids playing organized sports with a mix of fascination, pride and, well, horror. Like all parents, I am fascinated by how good some of the kids are, and certainly I am proud of my own kids (I am a parent after all). But as a surgeon with a specialty in sports… Read More
A patient of mine recently pointed out an article by Mike Cantrell: The Soccer Players’ Tug of War: A Simple Understanding of Athletic Pubalgia and Sports Hernias. I read the article and two thoughts followed. First, great understanding of the structures and the dynamic opposition which occurs. Second, the point of prevention of the injury… Read More
Originally, when we started focusing on the Athletic Pubalgia/Sports Hernia injury, we were not certain how important a Physical Therapy protocol was in the post op period. Our feeling was that although it couldn’t hurt, it was unclear as to the benefit. As the years have gone by, this thought process has changed. A Physical… Read More
As I stood at the 700 degree Weber grilling steaks next to my lacrosse coach brother-in-law this weekend, I brought up the fact that my lacrosse playing population sustaining groin injuries was on the rise. Proportionally, he told me, this makes sense, as Lacrosse is a fast growing sport, and colleges are adding both men’s… Read More
My patients often ask what is the difference between an Inguinal and Ventral hernia, and they are confused that the repair in one is usually laparoscopic while the other is in an open fashion. Let’s start with the difference. A Ventral Hernia is a hernia anywhere on the abdominal wall, and although this may include… Read More
A recent article regarding open versus laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair was written by Westin M.D. et al. It is entitled “Less pain one year after total extra-peritoneal repair compared with Lichtenstein using local anesthesia–data from a randomized controlled clinical trial.” In the trial, 384 patients were randomized and operated upon using either laparoscopic or open… Read More
There is little argument that the technology advances over the last decade regarding medical robotics are rather staggering. Surgeons in all specialties are now able to sit at a console next to, or even several rooms away from, their patients while conducting a surgery. A first time observer would truly see a feat of science… Read More
There are two questions the vast majority of my patients ask. The first is, why do I have this pain and how do I make it go away? The second is, why are you the only doctor in the New York Metropolitan area, maybe even the tri-state area, who takes care of this problem? My… Read More
Understanding Inguinal Hernias is not easy. The anatomy in the groin region, is complex, and even for the surgical resident in training, has a three dimensional nature that takes years to understand. The anatomy begins at the level of the umbilicus (belly button) and continues down to the groin crease (the line created by the… Read More