Dr. Vani Sabesan, MD

On the show

“We’re really good at fixing them. We’re not great at getting them to heal.”

Dr. Sabesan talked frankly about the limits of surgery. She puts rotator cuff problems at roughly 17 million people and about one in three people over 60, and said surgeons are good at repairing cuffs but not yet good at getting them to heal. She described a head to head study in which patients who started moving within a week did as well as those kept in a sling for six weeks, and a survey in which 98 percent of shoulder replacement patients said their therapist had a big impact on the outcome. Mike noted she is the first woman chosen to lead the Florida Orthopaedic Society.

Background

• She is a board certified orthopaedic surgeon and shoulder and elbow specialist with the Orthopedic Center of Palm Beach County.
• She earned her undergraduate degree at Duke University and her medical degree at Indiana University School of Medicine, then completed her orthopaedic surgery residency at Duke University.
• She completed fellowship training in shoulder and elbow surgery and sports medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, along with a Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship at the University of Iowa.
• She previously served as Chief of Quality and held the Lang Family Endowed Chair in Orthopaedic Research at Cleveland Clinic Florida, and was program director of the orthopaedic residency at HCA Florida JFK/University of Miami.
• She has published more than 105 peer reviewed articles and has served on the Florida Orthopaedic Society Board and as its program chair.
• Outside the operating room she has run more than 25 marathons and completed an Ironman.

Watch the episode

Play: Shoulder Replacement, Muscle Sparing Surgery & Why Robots Are Marketing

Episode 9

Shoulder Replacement, Muscle Sparing Surgery & Why Robots Are Marketing

Dr. Vani Sabesan

Orthopaedic shoulder surgeon Dr. Vani Sabesan on why we are better at fixing rotator cuffs than at getting them to heal, muscle sparing technique and the case against six weeks in a sling, and why robots in shoulder surgery are great marketing rather than better outcomes.

Watch on YouTube →

• ▶Play clip: Would you rather spend six weeks in a sling, or start moving tomorrow?

  Would you rather spend six weeks in a sling, or start moving tomorrow?

• ▶Play clip: Tech for tech’s sake, versus tech that actually solves your problem.

  Tech for tech’s sake, versus tech that actually solves your problem.

• ▶Play clip: A 90 year old walked in two days ago.

  A 90 year old walked in two days ago.

• ▶Play clip: 98 percent of shoulder replacement patients said their therapist had a huge impact on their outcome.

  98 percent of shoulder replacement patients said their therapist had a huge impact on their outcome.

• ▶Play clip: The robot knows exactly what to do.

  The robot knows exactly what to do.

• ▶Play clip: The technology is only as good as the user.

  The technology is only as good as the user.

Listen