October 28, 2024
Two shoulder surgeons at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, Drs. Greg Nicholson and Grant Garrigues, were presented with the prestigious Charles S. Neer Award at the annual American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) meeting on October 18, 2024. The award recipients received an honorarium and a certificate during the 2024 Open Meeting/Specialty Day.
Drs. Nicholson and Garrigues led a multi-center randomized trial focused on comparing the effectiveness of post-surgical surgeon-directed at-home vs. formal outpatient physical therapy among patients who had undergone a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (replacement). Their study concluded that at the one-year surgical follow-up mark, based upon ASES score, home-based surgeon-directed therapy after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty achieved similarly excellent outcomes with respect to patient-reported outcomes, range of motion, and complications when compared to formal outpatient physical therapy. These patients were followed for a second year and were also evaluated to determine if motivation and healthcare attitudes affected outcomes. There was no effect, and the success rate was extremely high in both groups.
This study was partially funded by a grant from the Aircast Foundation and the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) and partly through philanthropic donations. The study took nearly eight years to complete from inception to conclusion and involved collaborators from top centers across the country.
The Neer Award was established in honor of Dr. Charles S. Neer, who was one of the founding members and the first president of ASES. The award was created to provide recognition for outstanding clinical and basic science investigations contributing to the understanding, care, or prevention of injuries to the shoulder. This is the highest honor for clinical shoulder research given by the ASES.
