The Division of Trauma and Fracture Surgery, part of NYU Langone Health’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery, cares for people with traumatic bone fractures and soft tissue injuries. We are also deeply committed to orthopedic education and research. The division has four key priorities:

• to provide the highest-quality, safest, and most effective clinical care to patients in New York City and the surrounding communities
• to be the region’s leading resource for orthopedic trauma education, a main goal of which is to train future orthopedic surgeons, staff and residents, medical students, and allied health professionals
• to perform innovative basic science and clinical research that benefits patients and families, as well as improve outcomes in patients with orthopedic trauma
• to continue to be recognized nationally as a leader in the orthopedic trauma community

Our members hold significant leadership roles in the Orthopaedic Trauma Association, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the Orthopaedic Research Society.

Trauma and Fracture Surgery Education

As a national leader in resident education, the Department of Orthopedic Surgery considers resident training one of our most important objectives. The trauma-trained surgeons in the Division of Trauma and Fracture Surgery guide residents in the treatment of common fractures and the stabilization and treatment of complex injuries.

Members of the division provide orthopedic-related trauma education through didactic lectures, state-of-the-art simulation, and direct teaching of operative skills that enhance the learner’s ability, knowledge base, and dexterity.

Our academic curriculum includes a weekly didactic fracture conference, and each clinical site maintains its own academic schedule and case conferences. Our faculty also oversee resident skills sessions throughout the year in both large and small groups.

Residents participate in rotations as part of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery’s residency program. All interns attend the AO basic fracture course to gain further fundamental knowledge of operative treatments for fractures. Medical students wishing to explore orthopedic surgery may participate in electives in our division as part of NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Curriculum for the 21st Century.

Trauma and Fracture Surgery Research

The Division of Trauma and Fracture Surgery was one of the first in the country to use patient-reported outcome measures that more fully capture treatment results and help researchers to describe them more accurately. There are nearly 100 active clinical, basic science, and translational research projects underway at any time in our research program. A sample of current clinical research projects includes the following:

• development and testing of the Geriatric Trauma Outcome Score to identify patients at risk for poorer outcomes and to pinpoint areas for improvements in the quality of care
• creation of a fracture nonunion database that allows researchers to identify problematic conditions and promote recovery in patients with complex trauma problems
• participation in the National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded Major Extremity Trauma Research Consortium, including five active projects with NYU Langone leading in patient enrollment in several studies
• development of tibial plateau, ankle, hip, shoulder, and wrist fracture trauma databases to help researchers report on patient outcomes and quality measures
• measurement of patient safety and quality outcomes in trauma

Our NIH-funded investigators are leaders in basic science fracture healing research. Current projects investigate how the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors affects fracture healing, the use of Notch and Wnt signaling to effect cellular mechanisms of fracture healing, bone regeneration at the cellular level, inflammation effects on cells involved in fracture healing, and stem cells and their effect on fracture nonunion.

The division sponsors a 12-month program for qualified premedical undergraduates and graduate medical students. Called the Adult Learner Clinical Exploration Program for Orthopedic Trauma, it’s designed for students with a demonstrated interest in a career in orthopedic trauma surgery. Participants receive a full-immersion experience in the field of orthopedic trauma, including research, clinical exposure, and other learning opportunities.

Learn more about research in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery.

Trauma and Fracture Surgery Clinical Services

Our surgeons are on staff at several clinical locations and hospitals and provide urgent care to patients through the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Emergency Services at Tisch Hospital and Kimmel Pavilion, NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, Samuels Orthopedic Immediate Care Center, NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, VA NY Harbor Healthcare System, and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. We see more than 2,500 orthopedic trauma cases per year and cover the 3 busiest Level 1 Trauma Centers in New York City.

Trauma surgeons in our division treat a range of cases, from single fractures to multiple, life-threatening musculoskeletal injuries. Because of the nature of our trauma cases, we have strong working relationships with NYU Langone’s Hansjörg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery, Department of Neurosurgery, and Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, and use state-of-the-art techniques to treat trauma-related injuries to nerves and blood vessels as well as incidents involving soft tissue loss.

We give significant attention to the comprehensive evaluation and care of geriatric patients with hip fractures, as well as coordinated care of patients with all types of fractures. We commonly perform late reconstructive procedures for nonunions, malunions, and osteomyelitis and conditions associated with poor bone health. Our surgeons also specialize in performing limb salvage surgery and treating bone deformities.

Trauma and Fracture Surgery Leadership and Administration

Kenneth A. Egol, MD, is chief of the Division of Trauma and Fracture Surgery and vice chair for education in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. Other members of our leadership team include Philipp Leucht, MD, PhD, director of trauma and fracture surgery research, and Sanjit R. Konda, MD, director of geriatric orthopedic trauma and fracture surgery.