For more than two decades, Kevin Garvin, MD, has quietly built the UNMC Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation into one of the most respected at UNMC and the busiest surgical service for Nebraska Medicine.
“Kevin embodies serious medicine and extraordinary care,” said UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD.
Joint replacements soaring
With baby boomers getting older, the volume of joint replacements is soaring. Nearly two million joint replacement surgeries are done in the U.S. annually, with knee replacements done three times as often as hip replacements.
It is estimated that by 2030, the number of total knee replacements performed in the U.S. will increase by more than 600 percent compared to 2005, while total hip replacements are expected to increase by almost 200 percent over the same time period.
Dr. Garvin credits three factors — body mass, trauma including sports injuries, and less well-defined genetics — being the primary causes leading to joint replacement.
The UNMC/Nebraska Medicine team of joint replacement surgeons averages about 1,500 surgeries a year. In addition to Dr. Garvin, the team includes Beau Konigsberg, MD, Curtis Hartman, MD, and Beau Kildow, MD.
Things have changed dramatically over the years, Dr. Garvin said. In the early 1980s, surgery would take about two hours. Patients would be confined to bed for the first two days following surgery and would usually remain in the hospital for about two weeks.
Today, it is done as a one-hour inpatient or outpatient procedure. Patients are out of bed on the day of their surgery and are usually home within 24 hours.
Within 2-4 weeks after surgery, patients are usually finished with needing any walking aid, compared to 6-12 weeks in the early days of joint replacement surgery.
“Results are so much better,” Dr. Garvin said. “It’s been a comprehensive effort. It starts with pre-operative care. Patients are managed well throughout the process. We now use spinal anesthesia. We’re able to make smaller incisions and come in from the front, back or side of the joint. It’s not the length of the incision that’s most important – you have to be kind to the soft tissue. It’s key that we mobilize patients quickly after surgery.”
Joint revision surgery — when a joint replacement fails — is required in only a small number of patients. Studies show that more than 90% of joint replacements are still intact at 15 years.
“All our joint replacement surgeons can perform joint revision surgery,” Dr. Garvin said. “It’s more complex, but once you get confident doing something complex, it’s not so complex.”
“His success is not fueled by ego, but by an intense dedication to patients, UNMC and Nebraska Medicine,” said James Linder, MD, CEO of Nebraska Medicine.
If you need a hip or knee replacement, Dr. Garvin has arguably become the “‘go to” physician in the state. He is sought out by the most prominent people — folks who settle for nothing but the best.
“He is known by his patients as ‘Kevin from Heaven,'” said Harold M. Maurer, MD, UNMC chancellor emeritus.
“Dr. Garvin is a world-class surgeon. He has a confidence that only the great ones have,” said John Cook, the four-time national championship coach of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln volleyball team who underwent a successful hip replacement surgery at Nebraska Medicine in December 2019. “I had a very challenging surgery, and the doctors in Lincoln would not touch me. He explained his game plan after making a 3D model and outlined three different options. His preparation allowed me to have a successful surgery.”
UNMC’s most prolific philanthropists, Ruth and Bill Scott, also are on the Dr. Garvin bandwagon. In 2016, the Scotts funded the impressive fourth floor facility in the Lauritzen Outpatient Center and Fritch Surgery Center, which houses the department and includes the Orthopaedics Biomechanics and Advanced Surgical Technologies Laboratory.
Ruth Scott knows first-hand about Dr. Garvin’s surgical skills. “In October, Bill will get out his trumpet and we will both sing happy birthday to my 25-year-old knee,” she said. “Needless to say, I am very happy he is my doctor. I know folks who went to other surgeons and had to have repeat replacements after just eight years.”
The accolades for Dr. Garvin roll off the tongue of Vincent Pellegrini, Jr., MD, professor, orthopaedics, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine. “Kevin is a high integrity guy who treats people well,” Dr. Pellegrini said. “He’s genuine, sincere and authentic. He’s a superb physician, but he’s understated. What you see is what you get. You can always count on Kevin to do the right thing — he’s never going to bow to the political nonsense that can sometimes be a part of academic medicine.”
A Wall of Honor in the department salutes 13 prominent donors who have invested in the program. The names include the Scotts, Chuck and Margre Durham, Harold and Marian Andersen, Susie Buffett, Dr. Wayne and Eileen Ryan, and Christina Hixson. More than $50 million has been donated to the department.
A native of Akron, Iowa, a farming community of about 1,500 in northwest Iowa, Dr. Garvin received his first exposure to medicine from his father, Robert, who was a large animal veterinarian.
“I watched him, and it definitely made an impression,” Dr. Garvin said. “It was also very enjoyable, and none of the surgery bothered me. Rather, it was an integral part of the profession.”
He earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1982 and did a five-year residency in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
One of the defining moments in his training was a hip fellowship at The Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. “I was really lucky,” Dr. Garvin said, as he was able to learn from some of the pioneers in joint replacement surgeries, such as John Insall, MD, the British physician who is considered “one of the fathers of knee replacement surgery.”
See more on Dr. Garvin’s career.
A second defining honor was being selected as an ABC (American, British, Canadian) traveling fellow. As one of seven selected as an ambassador for orthopaedics, the fellows visited centers in Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
Following his fellowship, Dr. Garvin was recruited to UNMC in 1988 by John Connolly, MD, department chair. Less than two years later, Dr. Connolly took a position in Florida and Dean Robert Waldman, MD, asked Dr. Garvin to step in as interim chair.
It was literally baptism by fire. Dr. Garvin held the interim post for 18 months. When the Gulf War started in 1991, four UNMC orthopaedic surgeons were called into service, leaving Dr. Garvin as the sole remaining surgeon in the department.
In 2000, Dr. Garvin succeeded James Neff, MD, as department chair. During Dr. Garvin’s tenure as chair, the department has flourished. The number of surgeons has grown from five to 28. All nine subspecialties of orthopaedic surgery are now represented on the faculty.
In typical Dr. Garvin fashion, he is quick to spread the credit. “It’s because of the gracious and supportive people in the state that we’ve been able to hire really good people,” he said. “We have outstanding surgeons, who are all self-starters.”
He takes special pride in the department having four research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as one from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). One of the grants – headed by Dr. Garvin — is looking at how to reduce the risk of blood clots and/or bleeding after hip or knee replacement surgery.
In 2017, Dr. Garvin succeeded Dr. Pellegrini as president of the Hip Society during the organization’s 50th anniversary celebration. One of the highlights of his term was holding the annual meeting in Omaha with more than 100 members representing the top hip surgeons from North America. In 2018, he was one of two appointed to the board of the prestigious American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery — a commitment that will require him to serve for seven more years.
With 33 years at UNMC/Nebraska Medicine, Dr. Garvin has loved every minute.
“It’s been a great place to work,” he said. “People of high character work here. Everyone’s working on the same team, going the same direction. The wonderful thing about the medical center is that if you have aspirations or goals, the leadership will help facilitate your success.”
Kevin really is a very special guy. The UNMC program has flourished under his leadership.
UNMC and Nebraska medicine are fortunate to have leaders like Dr. Garvin..
I was so impressed by Dr. Garvin and his team during my hip replacement, I decided to seek employment here. Thank you for leading the way Dr. Garvin.
My two new knees, new left hip and I are eternally grateful for Dr. Garvin. When other surgeons said they wouldn't replace both knees at the same time, Dr. Garvin said "sure, we can do that for you." Dr. Garvin and his team, PA's and Nurse Mary Peterson are my only recommendation for knee and hip replacement surgery.