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Shoulder & Sports Medicine Research Institute

Orthopedic surgeons Tally Lassiter, Jr., M.D., M.H.A., and Jocelyn Wittstein, M.D., lead the Shoulder and Sports Medicine Research Institute for Bassett Healthcare Network. Dr. Lassiter is director of the Shoulder and Sports Medicine Institute and Dr. Wittstein leads the Institute’s research efforts, which focuses on how to prevent and manage shoulder and athletic injuries in people living in central New York. Both see patients for consultations and surgical management of orthopedic disorders in Oneonta at FoxCare Center and Oneonta Specialty Services.

Drs. Lassiter and Wittstein use the latest techniques in treating patients for a range of orthopedic conditions, including arthroscopic rotator cuff tears and shoulder instability surgery, arthritis of shoulder joint with total shoulder replacement. In advanced cases of arthritis, and when the patient has not responded to other corrective measures, the ball and the socket of the shoulder is replaced in shoulder replacement surgery, giving good predictable pain relief. Biologic patches are now one option to repair very large rotator cuff tears. Minimally invasive surgical procedures may be used in some cases of arthritic shoulder conditions where bone spurs are a problem.

Patients presenting with very advanced shoulder arthritis and extremely limited shoulder use due to associated rotator cuff tears, who have not responded to pain medication or other modalities, may benefit from a newer procedure called reverse shoulder arthroplasty. It is so named because the usual positions of the ball and socket replacements are reversed in the shoulder. Reverse shoulder arthroplasty gives the patient pain relief and ability to lift their arm above their head.

Drs. Lassiter and Wittstein also have additional training in outpatient anterior cruciate ligament and complicated knee ligament surgery, elbow arthroscopy and ligament reconstruction in athletes whose sport involves repeated throwing, such as baseball or football. Dr. Lassiter has additional training in hip arthroscopy for labral tears in athletes, femoral-acetabular impingement and early hip arthritis.

For an appointment with either Dr. Lassiter or Dr. Wittstein, at FoxCare Center, call 607-432-2239, or Oneonta Specialty Services, call 607-433-6300.