John Ryan Martin, M.D., orthopedic surgeon with Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, is to be honored with the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons’ Surgical Techniques and Technologies Award at the society’s annual meeting in November.
The award is given to the research paper that embodies the commitment to the highest standards of orthopedic knowledge and surgical innovation in reconstructive surgery.
Martin is being honored for his work as the lead author on the paper, “Synovial Fluid Metal Ions: Diagnostic Markers for Aseptic Loosening in Cemented TKA”.
The study tested whether synovial barium and zirconium levels are higher in the presence of confirmed aseptic loosening. Martin and his team hypothesized that loose implants release detectable amounts of these bone cement radiopacifiers.
According to data from the 20 patients in the study, 7 of which had aseptic loosening, both barium and zirconium have the potential to improve the diagnosis of aseptic loosening. The study has been expanded to include data from multiple medical centers.
Martin has been a member of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) since his residency days back in 2012.
He told Orthopedics This Week that societies like the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons are important because they allow researchers to submit what they are working on and see how they stack up against the rest of the country.
On what drew him to orthopedics, especially hip and knee surgery, he said, “As I was going through my residency, I enjoyed taking patients with limited function and improving their mobility. It is rare to have people get better after surgery but with hip and knee surgery it does happen.”
Martin received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana and completed his residency at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, New York. Then he did his adult reconstruction fellowship at Colorado Joint Replacement in Denver.
Martin continues to be a prolific researcher. He has also conducted research on the genetic association of outcomes after joint replacement, AI, and diagnostic imaging.
He was recently awarded a National Institutes of Health grant to study oxidative stress and knee pain after total knee arthroplasty. He wanted to see if oxidative stress could be the reason why 10 to 15% of knee patients are dissatisfied and found oxidative stress to be predictive of 9-month pain. He and his colleagues are now planning a placebo-controlled clinical trial now with a treatment arm.
Another of his recent studies evaluated dexamethasone’s potential to increase blood glucose levels and increase the risk of periprosthetic joint infection.
On what he thinks the future of hip and knee surgery should focus, he said, “In the short run, I would love better diagnostics for loosening of implants. Most research focuses on infection not loosening implants.”
“Another very promising area to look at,” he said, “is trying to predict a patient’s future spinopelvic position as they age in order to improve the placement of implants.”
The American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons’ Annual Meeting will take place November 7-10, 2024, in Dallas, Texas.
The mission of AAHKS, which was founded in 1991, is to improve patient care in hip and knee surgery through education, advocacy, research, and outreach. More than 5,000 surgeons and other hip and knee health care professionals are members of the association.
