Medical and Professional Pages and Links for Richard P. Meinig, M.D.

This page will be a long term project to document my own medical, research, and professional interests as well as provide some web links to medical education sites that I personally use or recommend.
I am an Orthopaedic Surgeon by training-that is a specialist in musculoskeletal medicine and surgery. My clinical subspecialty is Orthopaedic Traumatology-the treatment of bone fractures and soft tissue injuries. I have a research interest in resorbable polymers that can be used to reconstruct bone defects as well as bone graft substitute materials. I have been very fortunate to have collaborated with Sylwester Gogolewski of the AO Research Institute in Davos, Switzerland since 1989. Our initial project established the mechanism where a resorbable polymer membrane could be used as an exclusion barrier to allow for the spontaneous reconstitution of small long bone defects. Subsequent projects in sheep and goat models demonstrated that resorbable polymer membranes with adjunct fixation and bone graft could be used for reconstruction of very large defects. The polymer membranes are now commercially available through Synthes USA and will hopefully see further basic and clinical research....
Clinically, I am part of Front Range Orthopaedics Group. We are based in Colorado Springs but have outreach clinics in Southern and Eastern Colorado. I continue to maintain the teaching affilitiations of Dr. Frederic C. Feiler with several hospitals in Katmandu, Nepal. Our group provides comprehensive elective and emergent care for all aspects of the musculoskeletal system, ie spine, upper extremity, joint reconstruction, sports medicine, and lower extremity. I enjoy tackling a wide scope of clinical problems with the exception of cervical spine conditions. My special interest is in polytrauma, pelvic fractures, and post traumatic reconstructions and nonunions. I remain active with the Orthopaedic Trauma Association and AO North America. www.fro.org, www.aofoundation.org, www.ota.org, www.aaos.org
With my mountaineering and climbing roots influencing me, I am trying to assist in grass root efforts to preserve and improve our regional mountains and trails. Its hard to believe, the negative impact that we have had in the last 30 years. There are virtually no positive indices! In recent years, I have served on the Board of the Rocky Mountain Field Institute. RMFI is the outgrowth of the earlier Americal Mountain Foundation that Mark Hesse started in the 1980's. RMFI has done a great deal of field work in high Colorado alpine settings, Utah desert, the Pikes Peak area and Garden of the Gods. Hopefully, RMFI will continue to grow.... www.rmfi.org