Gabriella E. Ode, MD, sports medicine surgeon at HSS reflects this approach, emphasizing that success is not defined by the procedure alone but by whether patients are able to return to the activities and quality of life that matter most to them.

From shared decision-making to recovery, access to care, and multidisciplinary collaboration, her approach reflects a broader movement in medicine: improving not just the operation, but everything that surrounds it.

Read the full article at beckersspine.com.

A former chief of HSS’ Adult Reconstruction and Joint Replacement Service, Dr. Padgett has played a pivotal role in advancing joint replacement surgery, including groundbreaking work in biomaterials, robotic surgery, and thrombosis prevention. He also brings a distinguished military background, having served as a Navy surgeon during operations in Grenada, Beirut, and the Persian Gulf, and continues to contribute to national orthopedic leadership organizations.

With subspecialty certification in orthopedic sports medicine, Dr. Ode serves as a team physician for the WNBA’s NY LIBERTY and an assistant team physician for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. An active researcher and educator with more than 100 presentations and publications, she is widely recognized for advancing shoulder surgery, surgical education, and diversity within orthopedics.

Read the full article at beckersspine.com. 

“After surgery, we encourage people to move. We don’t want you sitting in bed or convalescing because that can slow recovery,” shared Dr. Ode. 

"Even if you want to recover quickly from shoulder replacement surgery, try to pace yourself. “It’s like training for a marathon,” Dr. Ode said. “You’re not going to be doing 26 miles on the first day. There’s a lot of retraining those muscles and regaining function and strength.”

Read the full article at health.usnews.com. 

Researchers have long known that women are far more likely to tear their ACLs. While precise estimates vary depending on the age group and population, they likely have about three to four times the risk as men,

Gabriella Ode, MD, sports medicine surgeon at HSS, member of the Women’s Sports Medicine Center, and team physician for the New York Liberty, explained that the ACL’s role is to stabilize the knee’s front and back motion, preventing your tibia from sliding out ahead of your femur. It also gives you control over rotation—“the ability to step with your foot and then turn and feel like, ‘Hey, I have good support below me in order to move explosively,'

There's another effect of ACL tears that can’t be understated: The mental impact can be huge. “This is an injury that typically occurs in athletic people who are participating in a sport or doing some sort of high-level activity, and it really derails their mobility and their desires for sport and activity, whether short- or long-term,” Dr. Ode says. “It’s totally okay to have an emotional response.”

Read the full article at self.com. 

USC sophomore star JuJu Watkins’ knee buckled beneath her during the first quarter of the Trojans’ second-round win over Mississippi State in the NCAA tournament. Watkins was carried to the locker room, and an MRI revealed that she sustained a torn ACL. The injury not only ends her season just as USC’s tournament run is beginning, but also presumably will require her to sit out well into next season.

“We’ve gotten much better at not just looking at it as a specific window, like, ‘OK, nine months and now you’re ready,’” said Gabriella E. Ode, MD, FAAOS, FAOA, sports medicine surgeon at the HSS Sports Medicine Institute and team physician for the New York Liberty. “There’s going to be a lot of differences from person to person in that recovery process. There’s nothing wrong even with a 12-month recovery. I want to be very explicit about that. There are many people who it takes 12 months.”

“Probably the worst thing that an athlete can do is go back when they’re not ready,” Dr. Ode said.

Read the full article at latimes.com. 

In some cases, said Dr. Ode, frozen shoulder follows an injury or surgery that keeps you from moving the joint (what doctors call “secondary” frozen shoulder). Usually, though, frozen shoulder just happens with no identifiable cause.

Some other higher-risk groups include people with diabetes or thyroid disease, Dr. Ode says. It’s not clear why, but researchers speculate that the inflammation caused by those diseases might be one reason.

Read the full article at SELF.com. 

According to a 2022 report from the Women’s Sports Foundation, the percentage of girls participating on high school varsity teams increased from 7% in 1972 to 43% in 2018 to 2019, the most recent reporting year. The report also noted the percentage of women competing on college teams increased from 15% in 1972 to 44% during the 2020 to 2021 academic year.

Despite an increasing number of women in sports, inequalities still exist not only in participation opportunities but in research of injuries and care of female athletes, as well. 

According to Dr. Ode, “Non-modifiable risk factors, such as the width of the pelvis, angle of the knees and muscle balance, can put women at a higher risk of ACL tears.”

She continued, “There are some studies that say there might be a predisposition during certain times during their menstrual cycle that they are more prone to injury that can contribute to ACL tears. There is a complex interplay as to why but, certainly, the highest risk category for an ACL tear is going to be a female athlete who participates in a cutting-and-pivoting sport, like soccer, basketball, etc.”

Read the full article at healio.com. 

A team at HSS has served the the New York Liberty since 2004. Riley Williams, MD, serves as medical director and Anne Holland Johnson, MD, Benedict Nwachukwu, MD, Gabriella E. Ode, MD, and James N. Robinson, MD, serve as team physicians. 

Read the full article at beckersspine.com. 

Read the full article at Liberty.wnba.com.