UCSF Experts Featured at Orthopaedic Surgery Conference

Orthopedic surgery experts from UCSF Health will present new clinical research findings and cutting-edge surgical techniques at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ (AAOS) annual meeting. This year’s meeting will be held March 10-14, in San Diego.

The AAOS 2025 Annual Meeting covers the latest in musculoskeletal health news, technology and trends. This gathering of orthopaedic surgeons, researchers and allied health professionals is centered on innovation, collaboration and education across hundreds of instructional course lectures and poster and paper presentations.

This year’s program features clinical presentations and research findings by orthopaedic surgery experts from the UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Here are some highlights:

Kappa Delta Elizabeth Winston Lanier Award

AAOS has awarded Brian T. Feeley, MD, FAAOS, the 2025 Kappa Delta Elizabeth Winston Lanier Award, for his pioneering work on muscle degeneration in rotator cuff injuries.  

Feeley, an orthopaedic surgeon, professor of orthopaedic surgery and chief of the Division of Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery at UCSF, has conducted research over the last 15 years that has uncovered the biological mechanisms behind fatty infiltration, a process that leads to muscle atrophy and can limit recovery after rotator cuff repair. In collaboration with UCSF’s Xuhui Liu, MD, a leading expert in muscle biology, this research provides critical insights into how muscle degeneration occurs at a cellular level and has opened the door to potential new treatments aimed at promoting muscle regeneration and improving surgical outcomes.

The annual award is of the highest honors in orthopaedic research and recognizes groundbreaking research achievements in musculoskeletal disease or injury with significant potential to improve patient care.

UCSF Presentations (all times PDT):

Monday, March 10 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Nicholas Colyvas, MD, FAAOS, an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon and UCSF professor of Orthopaedic Surgery presents “Repair of Bucket Handle Meniscus Tear” during the symposium Buckets, Ramps, Roots, Radial Tears and Meniscus Allograft Transplantation – Management of Complex Meniscal Pathology

This symposium will provide an overview of complex meniscal pathology and highlight surgical repair techniques with a focus on pearls that can be implemented immediately. 

Colyvas also serves as moderator for the technical skills session “Meniscus Repair: Guidelines and Techniques to Save the Meniscus” on Wednesday, March 12 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Paper Presentations

Monday, March 10 from 8 to 9:30 a.m.

Alan Zhang, MD, FAAOS, orthopaedic surgeon and medical director of the UCSF Orthopaedic Institute, presents “Language Analysis Predicts Surgical Recommendation Prior to Surgeon Evaluation: An Analysis of 2,954 Pre-Visit Patient Questionnaires” during the session Sports Medicine Papers I

This paper found that a pretrained LLM efficiently predicted recommendation for surgical intervention from questionnaire and MRI data prior to surgeon evaluation, suggesting value as a clinical decision support tool.

Monday, March 10 from 11:12 to 11:16 a.m. 

Brian T. Feeley, MD, FAAOS, orthopaedic surgeon and chief of the UCSF Division of Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery, presents “Effectiveness of Non-operative Treatment in Patients with Glenohumeral Osteoarthritis: A Prospective Cohort Study” during the session Shoulder and Elbow Papers I

This study showed that non-operative treatment of GHOA has limited effectiveness and only meaningfully improved symptoms in 31% of patients. Physical therapy was not associated with clinical improvement.

Clinical Research Poster Sessions

Monday, March 10 at 7:00 a.m.

e214 – “Race Affects the Rate of Reoperation in Primary but not Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty” in Adult Reconstruction Knee ePosters
Jeffrey Kwong, MD, MS, a fourth-year UCSF orthopaedic surgery resident physician, is first author for a retrospective cohort study that found racial disparities appeared to be more pronounced in primary TKAs than in revision TKAs.
Senior Author: Erik Nathan Hansen, MD, FAAOS, UCSF

e379 – “Rate of Compartment Syndrome after Tibial Tubercle Fractures in Pediatric Patients” in Pediatrics ePosters
Alex Youn, BA, a medical student at UCSF, is first author for this study that demonstrates that pediatric tibial tubercle fractures disproportionately occur in males and shows that compartment syndrome is an important, non-negligible complication of these injuries.
Senior Author: Ishaan Swarup, MD, FAAOS, UCSF

e391 – “Pediatric Radial Head Ossification Occurs in Eccentric Fashion” in Pediatrics ePosters
Hannah Chi, MS, a UCSF medical student, is first author for a study that shows in MRIs of 66 patients, radial head ossification occurs eccentrically and does not correlate with age. Eccentric radiocapitellar alignment persists to skeletal maturity but sagittal offset is small.
Senior Author: Ishaan Swarup, MD, FAAOS, UCSF

e400 – “Will Medicare's Bundled Payments Program Threaten Patient Access? Early Experience with BPCI-A (Bundled Payments for Care Improvement-Advanced) for Internal Fixation of the Hip and Femur” in Practice Management/Rehabilitation ePosters 
Justin Solarczyk, MD, a second-year UCSF orthopaedic surgery resident physician, is first author for this study that finds that with current risk stratification, hospitals may be less incentivized to participate in BPCI-A, compromising the goals and sustainability of coordinated value-based care.
Senior Author: Heather Roberts, MD, UCSF

e503 – “Long-Term Results of Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty: Survival, Radiographic, Functional, and Clinical Outcomes with Over 10 Years of Follow-up” in Shoulder and Elbow ePosters 
Shotaro Watanabe, MD, PhD, a visiting scholar at UCSF, is first author of a study showing the outcomes of RTSAs with a minimum follow-up period of 10 years were favorable, with a good ROM, ASES score and survival rate (10-year rate: 92.1%).
Senior Author: C. Benjamin Ma, MD, FAAOS, UCSF

e698 – “Preoperative Hip Injection Response Does Not Reliably Predict 2-Year Postoperative Outcomes Following Hip Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement” in Sports Medicine ePosters
Alan Zhang, MD, FAAOS, orthopaedic surgeon and medical director of the UCSF Orthopaedic Institute, is first author of this study that finds preoperative injection response with either corticosteroid or local anesthetic did not predict 2-year outcomes after hip arthroscopy in patients with FAIS.
Senior Author: Stephanie Erin Wong, MD, FAAOS, UCSF

e702 – “Delayed Hip Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome Does Not Increase Risk of Revision Hip Arthroscopy or Conversion to Total Hip Arthroplasty But Does Increase Rates of Chronic Opiate Use” in Sports Medicine ePosters
Kian Niknam, MD, a UCSF resident physician, is first author for this study that shows delayed surgery for FAIS does not increase revision or conversion rates but does increase the odds of extended opiate use after surgery. 
Senior Author: Alan Zhang, MD, FAAOS, UCSF

Wednesday, March 12 at 7:00 a.m.

P205 – “Assessing the Trends and Risk Factors of Operative Versus Non-Operative Management of Achilles Tendon Ruptures: A National Database Cohort Study” in Foot and Ankle Poster Session 2
Alex Youn, BA, medical student at UCSF in the Feeley-Liu Lab, is first author of this study demonstrating that various demographic variables and risk factors are significantly associated with operative management of ATRs over time with a recent trend towards operative management.
Senior Author: Daniel Thuillier, MD, UCSF

Instructional Course Lectures

Monday, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Erik Hansen, MD, FAAOS

122 – When Necessary, Reconstruct It (during Managing the Patella in Revision Knee Surgery)

Sports Medicine

Tuesday, 8 to 9:30 a.m. 
Drew Lansdown, MD
210 – Optimizing Outcomes in Revision Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Surgery 

Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 
Nicholas Colyvas, MD, FAAOS
328 – Meniscus Repair: Guidelines and Techniques to Save the Meniscus

Thursday, 8 to 9:30 a.m.
Drew Lansdown, MD
412 – Diagnosis and Management of Patellofemoral Cartilage Injuries

General

Monday, 8 to 9:30 a.m. 

Brian T. Feeley, MD (moderator)
103 – Excelling in an Orthopaedic Career: Expert Advice from Cradle to Grave

Trauma

Monday, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  
Utku Kandemir, MD, FACS (moderator)
184 – Management of Proximal Humerus Fractures in 2025 

Tuesday, 8 to 9:30 a.m. 

Utku Kandemir, MD, FACS (moderator)
211 – How to Manage Fracture Related Infection –- Knowledge of prevention and management of infection is key to fracture care in order to provide improved patient care and minimize the healthcare burden.
David W. Lowenberg, MD, FAAOS presents Management of Chronic FRI

Friday, March 14, 10:05 to 10:15 a.m.

Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) and Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) Specialty Society Program: 
Saam Morshed, MD, PhD, MPH, FAAOS, presents “Open vs. Closed Reduction for Young Femoral Neck Fractures”

Please visit AAOS abstracts for complete meeting abstract information.

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