For over 40 years, Orthopedic Associates
of Naperville (OAN) has been synonymous for excellence
in orthopedic care in Naperville and its surrounding communities.
This tradition of excellence was established by George
Markarian, MD with his commitment to honesty and to patient
satisfaction. His legacy as a pioneer started by performing
the first total hip replacement in the United States (1967)
and it is continued by his son, Gregory G. Markarian,
MD.
Dr. Gregory Markarian’s dedication
and training have taken him around the world, lecturing
and teaching. He understands all patients have the same
basic desire: to get better quickly. He stays on the cutting-edge
of technology, continually improving his techniques and
knowledge of arthroscopic and reconstructive procedures
and advancements in physical therapy treatments. This
expertise is effective in treating sports-related, work-related
and orthopedic injuries.
Dr. Markarian has served as a team
physician for several professional and amateur sports
teams, including the Miami Dolphins, the Florida Marlins,
the Chicago Enforcers XFL team, the United States Women’s
Professional
Volleyball League, the University of Miami Hurricanes,
the Chicago Blaze Rugby team, Benet Academy High School
and the Naperville Youth Football League.
Dr. Markarian has an active role in orthopedic, arthroscopic
and other related surgical research. Recent publications
of note are Arthroscopically Assisted Rotator Cuff Repair
Using a Mini-open Incision1,
and The Acute Effects of Radiofrequency Energy in Articular
Cartilage: An In Vitro Study2
.
He has lectured extensively at national
and international conferences and has presented research
to distinguished academies such as the American Academy
of Orthopedic Surgeons, the International Society of Knee
Arthroscopy Surgery, the International Arthroscopy Knee
Surgery and Orthopedic Sports Medical Congress SIROT99
in Sydney, Australia. In Sydney, Australia he presented
a paper discussing a new technique utilizing radiofrequency
energy on articular cartilage and the treatment of articular
cartilage. He discussed the viability of articular cartilage
following radiofrequency energy and its treatment at varying
time intervals. This was done in April of 1999. He presented
the treatment options for articular cartilage lesions
at Grand Rounds at the UCLA Medical Center for the Department
of Orthopedics in November of 1999 and at Grand Rounds
at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in September of 1999.
In May of 2000, he presented 3 papers to the International
Arthroscopy Knee Surgery and Orthopedic Sports Medicine
Congress.
The topics presented were the effects
of radiofrequency energy on articular cartilage, the in-vivo
effects of radiofrequency energy and the viability of
articular cartilage following radiofrequency energy. The
in-vivo rabbit model paper discussed the in-vivo effects
of radiofrequency energy showing that not only was radiofrequency
energy safe on articular cartilage, but that it prevented
propagation of lesions in a rabbit model. In the presentation
of the viability of articular cartilage following radiofrequency
energy at varying time intervals he presented the prevalence
of articular cartilage lesions of knee MRIs of male professional
basketball players. It is important to note that Dr. Markarian
has been teaching and giving lectures since 1994 and has
been committed to the advancement of arthroscopic surgery
and its related research.
Over 99% of the operations performed
by Dr. Gregory Markarian are completely arthroscopic.
These are for disorders of the knee, shoulder, elbow and
ankle. His
arthroscopic approach benefits his patients greatly. Not
only is their outcome enhanced, but their recovery is
also accelerated. Typically, all surgery is performed
on an outpatient basis where his patients go home on the
day of
surgery. They follow up with Dr. Markarian the day after
surgery, just before their physical therapy appointment.
Dr. Markarian feels that this accelerated recovery is
possible because of the minimal invasiveness of his techniques.
He has enjoyed significant patient satisfaction and enhanced
outcomes.
A good example of this accelerated
recovery through minimally invasive techniques is his
use of the OPUS instrumentation for arthroscopic rotator
cuff repairs. Dr. Markarian is able to repair small, medium,
and massive
rotator cuff tears using this instrumentation. The OPUS
Anchor has been recently rated as having the strongest
pullout strength from bone in the market. With this
excellent fixation, Dr. Markarian has his patients start
aggressive passive range of motion on post-operative day
one. Also, the time for surgery with this instrumentation
has been reduced by 50%. This allows for less postoperative
swelling and an accelerated recovery. In his opinion,
this instrumentation has dramatically improved surgical
outcomes for rotator cuff repairs. These cutting-edge
treatments, combined with research, knowledge and an amiable
bedside manner have resulted in tremendous and notable
outcomes for his patients. One
testament to this is the number of professional athletes
who choose Dr. Markarian for their treatment.
Knowledge and technique are not the
only things that make a patient’s experience a positive
one. OAN conveniently offers most services under one roof,
including x-ray, MRI, and physical therapy. In-house physical
therapy makes communication between the surgical staff,
physical therapists and patients efficient and effective.
The ability to handle the different aspects of a patient’s
care in the same office creates a better continuity of
care. That makes working with OAN easy.
Dr. Greg Markarian is a diplomate of
the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He is a member
of the Illinois State Medical Society, the International
Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports
Medicine, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons,
the Arthroscopy Association of North America and the John
William Uribe Sports Medicine Society. In addition to
his role with OAN, he is an attending physician at Edward
Hospital in Naperville, Illinois. He performs his operations
at The Center for Surgery in Naperville, Illinois. Dr.
Markarian received his Doctorate of Medicine and completed
his residency in orthopedic surgery at Northwestern University
Medical School, Chicago, Illinois. He then completed his
sports medicine fellowship at the University of Miami.
1Markarian,
Gregory G, MD and Uribe, John W, MD (1998). Arthroscopically
Assisted Rotator Cuff Repair Using a Miniopen Incision.
In J. Serge Parisien, MD, FACS, (ed), Current Techniqes
in Arthroscopy (3rd edition, chapter 11). New York: Thieme
Medical Publishers.
2Kaplan,
Lee, MD, Markarian, Gregory G., MD, Uribe, John W., MD,
and Sasken, Harvey, MD (2000, January-February). The Acute
Effects of Radiofrequency Energy in Articular Cartilage:
An In Vitro Study. Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic
and Related Surgery, 16(1), 2-5.
