Dr Steven Sampson was accepted as a guest speaker at the 3rd Annual World Congress of Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cells 2010. The event is Dec5-7, 2010 & will feature speakers from all over the world. We expect more & more of these regenerative summits to gain momentum in participation & frequency. The Chinese have been very progressive in promoting the growth of regenerative medicine & this conference will feature some of the most innovative physicians and scientists.
Dr Steven Sampson recently observed state of the art surgical procedures with Neal ElAttrache MD in Los Angeles, CA. Dr ElAttrache is a renowned Orthopedic surgeon & Dodgers team doctor, who performs minimally invasive arthroscopy of the shoulder, elbow & knee. I observed a knee ACL tear autograft procedure, where the patients own patellar (knee tendon) was removed & was later inserted and screwed deep in the knee for the torn ACL.
Dr. ElAttrache has authored 32 textbooks and 60 journal publications, filmed 10 orthopedic instructional videos, and has been a facilitator for over 240 lectures.
Dr ElAttrache emphasizes that younger patients have a better success rate using their own tendon Vs cadaver graft (allograft). Afterwards I saw a rotator cuff repair which was very impressive. Dr ElAttrache pioneered a technique which has revolutionized rotator cuff repair around the world with a more durable suturing protocol.
We hope to visit other pioneering & leading physicians around the world to enhance our comprehensive care.
The Orthohealing Center
We were thrilled to have Daniel Shelton visit our clinic last wk. Daniel has a wealth of experience training physicians how to utilize musculoskeletal ultrasound in their orthopedic practices. Daniel showed us some real exciting advanced protocols that we were not aware of including evaluation of the pubic symphisis and some dynamic (patient motion) studies of the hip and knee. Daniel is based in Texas and lectures frequently on ultrasound and visits clinics and professional sports team to advance the field. Keep up the great work Daniel!
Kern County Medical Center is affiliated with the University of California Schools of Medicine at Los Angeles and Irvine. Dr Steven Sampson will soon be working with other top physicians and medical residents in a teaching capacity. The Center is a 222 bed acute care teaching hospital that services a hard working community that often has minimal health insurance coverage. Further details to come!
I just returned from Palm Springs where I spoke at the 20th annual Practical applications in Sports medicine conference. There were over 200 in attendance which was terrific. The crowd made up mostly Athletic Trainers who work for universities, local schools & sports teams as well as Physical Therapists & Orthopedic Surgeons plus one cadaver. There were a few interesting points of note.
We were proud have Dr Noel Pollock, a sport & exercise medicine physician visit the Orthohealing Center in Los Angeles this week. Dr Pollock treats track & field athletes from the UK and is preparing for the 2012 Olympic Summer Games hosted in London, England. Dr Pollock observed many procedures & we thank our patients for being so cooperative.
As usual when other progressive doctors visit us here we often learn more from them! We hope to collaborate in the future to enhance patient care. Interestingly we both share an enthusiasm for the growing importance of nutrition & how it influences performance & recovery. Dr Pollock is driving exciting research in sports medicine.
Tiger Woods’ hometown newspaper The Orlando Sentinel interviewed Dr Steven Sampson of the Orthohealing Center of Los Angeles today. Dr Sampson treats many Olympic & professional athletes with PRP & other non-surgical orthopedic treatments.
Tiger woods held a press conference a the Augusta Masters today to address concerns of his medical treatment among other issues that have been circling in the media. Tiger clarified that he has never used performance enhancing drugs (PED’s). However Tiger did confirm that he received 4 injections of PRP Platelet Rich Plasma to his knee ligament (LCL) following a slow post operative recovery from ACL repair. Woods also received treatment for his Achilles tendon which he tore & adversely affected his driving distance . He claims that the treatments were successful & he feels strong.
While Tiger Woods has been surrounded by disappointments of his family & fans of infidelity, it appears that he has not violated any medical laws or restrictions in sport. PRP has been used to treat many athletes & even more weekend warriors. We are conducting several studies including a 10 multi center clinical trial on tennis elbow as well as a pilot knee arthritis study that was submitted for publication.
So hopefully the bright side of all this media frenzy will be the attention placed on an emerging therapy PRP. In no way is this a panacea but it appears a safe alternative to cortisone. More studies will emerge soon, some pro and some con to best determine which patients and injuries will be proper candidates for PRP.
NPRrecently featured PRP discussing it’s use in orthopedics & sports medicine. Interestingly via professional athletes, the community is learning more about emerging therapies that are driving change in medicine. Hopefully indirectly the increased awareness of PRP use in professional sports will promote further studies so that more patients at home can benefit as well.
Congrats to the ICMS for making the effort to bring together physicians who are researching cellular based therapies to advance the field & ensure safety and sound medial literature.
The International Cellular Medicine Society (ICMS) 
is an independent, physician and scientist guided 501(c)(3) non profit organization with a mission to advance the use of safe and effective adult stem cell therapies. As an organization, the ICMS provides education and interaction opportunities for patients seeking stem cell therapies, as well as clinical and laboratory best practice guidelines for doctors, researchers and stem cell clinics world wide. Their website includes helpful links to current research in stem cell based therapies & PRP.
