ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
The doctors at Southwest Medical Center’s Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Care Center believe each patient is unique, and they are committed to providing the community with excellence in orthopedic care that is focused on them.
Surgeons Dr. Pingal Desai and Dr. Firas Kawtharani are specialty trained and highly skilled leaders in orthopedics as well as orthopedic surgery.
They not only specialize in performing a broad range of surgeries and non-surgical procedures, but they also excel at developing personalized treatment plans for injuries and conditions of the entire musculoskeletal system.
“We both do joint replacements, which include interior and posterior hip replacements, total knee replacements and shoulder replacements,” Desai said. “We do robotic hip and knee replacements. We also do orthopedic sports medicine surgeries. We see sports injury patients. We also do orthopedic injuries. In addition to this, we also do some foot, ankle and hand. We also take care of the patients in the wound clinic, and we do quite a bit of wound care. In addition to this, I do orthopedic pain management. I do epidural injections.
The Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Care Center is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Desai and Kawtharani will have a booth at the upcoming Community Health Fair Oct. 5 at the Seward County Activity Center.
Desai said in addition to information about the clinic, patients can get screened for arthritis involving hips, knees, shoulders, ankles and other joints, as well as other needs.
“We also see any chronic injury patients,” he said. “We also see patients with chronic back pain who may need non-surgical intervention, pain medicine, as well as those who need some small procedures like epidural injections.”
Services provided by the clinic include:
ORTHOPEDICS
• Arthroscopy
• Amputations
• Biopsies
• Bone grafts
• Fracture fixation
• Hand and wrist surgery
• Orthopedic spine surgery
• Percutaneous vertebroplasty
• Balloon kyphoplasty
• Orthopedic trauma
• Musculoskeletal oncology
• Pediatric orthopaedics
SPORTS MEDICINE
• Arthroscopy
• Muscle and tendon repair
• Sprains and strains
MAJOR ARTHROPLASTY
• Knee joint
• Hip joint
• Shoulder joint
• Minimally invasive total hip arthroplasty
WOUND CARE
• Complicated wounds
• Chronic wounds
• Compromised skin grafts
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Desai said if needed, patients will be called into the clinic for further management. He estimated the Health Fair booth typically sees about 40 to 50 patients.
As for Desai’s interest in orthopedics, he said this comes from being in a family of doctors.
“I was inclined to all surgical practices, mainly orthopedics, since my childhood. I’m also interested in sports medicine, as well as arthritis,” he said. “That got me into joint replacement.”
Desai got his initial education in orthopedic surgery in India, and he has received training at several schools in the U.S., including Johns Hopkins Medicine, the University of Miami, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Texas.
The Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Care Center accepts new patients and most insurances, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Medicare and Kansas and Oklahoma Medicaid.
“We take all insurances in Kansas and Oklahoma and some of the insurances in Texas,” Desai said.
Desai said for emergencies, patients can go to the emergency room at SWMC, where they will be treated by himself or Dr. Kawtharani. Non-emergency patients can make appointments at the clinic.
“Our clinic is open five days a week,” Desai said. “I see patients Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and they can make an appointment anytime.”
