Fox 12 Good Day Living’s Stephanie Kralevich recently visited ROC’s Tualatin location to catch up with Sam Cheesman, M.D.
Dr. Cheesman discusses his work in orthopedic hand care and the most common procedures he sees in his clinic, and what he enjoys most about working at ROC.
Video Transcript:
Stephanie Kralevich: We’re at the Tualatin location of ROC Orthopedics to talk with an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in the treatment of hand injuries.
I’m here with Dr. Sam Cheesman, who specializes in the treatment of upper extremity and hand injuries. Dr. Cheesman thanks so much for having us.
Dr. Sam Cheesman: Yeah, thanks for having me.
Kralevich: So what are the most common procedures you perform here at ROC?
Cheesman: So the most common procedures I perform are carpal tunnel release, trigger finger release, and wrist fractures.
Kralevich: You’re the first hand surgeon here at ROC.
Cheesman: That is correct, yeah. So we expanded our offering in hand surgery so basically any injury of the upper extremity we can now treat here at ROC.
Kralevich: You talked about carpal tunnel. What is your approach to treating that?
Cheesman: I tend to prefer a wide-awake approach for carpal tunnel syndrome. This is a small surgery. We can easily numb up this area of the hand without needing to use a general anesthetic where we put people to sleep. So by doing that we can avoid nausea and grogginess that people have after a general anesthetic and, in certain cases, we even let people drive themselves home.
Kralevich: Oh wow! What about trigger finger, and what exactly is trigger finger?
Cheesman: Trigger finger is essentially a swelling on the tendon that gets caught on one of the pulleys of the finger and it causes the finger to snap back and forth. People come in very commonly with that. Sometimes we can treat it with an injection alone, but if that doesn’t work, then we typically move on to surgery. And that’s another one that can be done wide-awake and then we can even test to make sure that finger isn’t triggering at the end of the surgery which is an added advantage of doing it wide-awake.
Kralevich: What’s your patient population like here at ROC?
Cheesman: All ages come in for hand surgery. So, unlike some types of orthopedics, where it skews pretty significantly towards older patients with arthritis, everyone gets a hand injury all throughout their lives. So, we see all ages in my clinic for sure.
Kralevich: What’s your favorite part of being an orthopedic surgeon here at ROC?
Cheesman: So I think that fractures are challenging; every fracture is different. We have patients that have all different demands from their hands. So, you know, some patients aren’t doing a ton with their hands, and they would rather minimize the interventions that they have. And some patients are high-demand – athletes, they want to get back as fast as they can. And it’s interesting to work with people and to see how we can best advocate for them and find the best treatment path for each person.
Kralevich: Dr. Sam Cheesman, thank you so much!
Cheesman: Yeah! Thank you.
Kralevich: To learn more about orthopedic care and recovery at Regenerative Orthopedic Center, visit rocpdx.com.
