Blackstone, Black, Lauder Attend Academy

Physicians Bruce Blackstone, Dave Black, and A. J. Lauder of Longview Orthopedic Associates attended the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in San Diego, California, from February 15 to 19.

Black and Lauder attended specialty sessions coordinated by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand while Blackstone took in the American Shoulder and Elbow Society meetings.

Blackstone’s courses focused on treatment options for massive rotator cuff tears and complex shoulder fractures. He noted that improved implants and hardware – as well as new surgical techniques – have been thoroughly tested and are now available to patients.

"In these situations, treatments that were considered standard two or three years ago might not be the best options now," Blackstone said. "Locking pre-contoured plates and screws and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty have become options for some complex shoulder fractures.

"Reverse total shoulder replacement has become the procedure of choice for many chronic massive rotator cuff tears manifested by significant pain and pseudo-paralysis."

Black and Lauder attended the American Society for Surgery of the Hand specialty day.

"It was an intense review of the latest and greatest techniques in hand and wrist surgery," Lauder said. "I learned several new techniques pertaining to nerve and flexor tendon repair that I will be using in the future. More and more of this can be done with minimally invasive techniques using a scope."

Blackstone and Lauder also evaluated the EMR (electronic medical records) systems the federal government is mandating by 2015.

Contact Longview Orthopedic Associates at for additional information.