Lawrence Wells, MD
Areas of expertise: Arthroscopy, Athletic injuries in the shoulder, Pediatric fractures and trauma, Sports medicine, Athletic injuries in the elbow, Athletic injuries in the knee, Osteonecrosis, Avascular necrosis
Locations: Specialty Care, King of Prussia, Middleman Family Pavilion
About Lawrence Wells, MD
Lawrence Wells, MD, is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine. He completed his orthopedics surgery residency at the University of California-San Francisco and a fellowship in pediatric orthopedic surgery in Cincinnati, OH.
In 1990, Dr. Wells joined the Permanente Medical Group in South San Francisco, CA, and worked as a staff physician at the Kaiser South San Francisco facility. Dr. Wells also provided care for children at University of California-San Francisco as an Assistant Clinical professor of Orthopedic Surgery. In 1998, Dr. Wells was appointed Assistant Physician-in-chief at Kaiser South in San Francisco.
Dr. Wells was recruited to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in 2002.
Dr. Wells’ academic interests include pediatric sports medicine. He has written extensively and lectured nationally about injury recovery and prevention in the pediatric and adolescent athlete. His special interests include arthroscopic surgery for shoulder injuries and major knee ligament injuries (ACL) in pediatric and adolescent athletes with open growth plates.
Children with musculoskeletal trauma, osteonecrosis, avascular necrosis and sports related injuries travel from all over the country to obtain world-class care at CHOP. If your family has been told your child may need surgery, and you would like an expert opinion from Dr. Wells, the CHOP Orthopedic Nurse Navigator can coordinate travel arrangements and assist in streamlined access to the personalized care and excellence that CHOP and Dr. Wells have to offer.
Dr. Wells serves as the Associate Director of Sports Medicine at CHOP and the Director of Orthopedic Ambulatory Operations at CHOP's Specialty Care Center in Voorhees, NJ, and is a board member of the Philadelphia Orthopedic Society. He also serves as a departmental safety officer and committees related to patient satisfaction and infection prevention.
Dr. Wells has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. He is certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery and holds a certificate of added qualification in orthopedic sports medicine.
Titles
Attending Orthopedic Surgeon
Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Certifications
Orthopaedic Sports Medicine – American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
Orthopaedic Surgery – American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
Editorial and Academic Positions
Editorial positions
2009-present, Reviewer, University of Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Journal
2009-present, Co-editor, Pediatric section, AAOS Essentials of Musculoskeletal Care
2009-present, Reviewer, Journal of Children's Orthopaedics
2007-present, Reviewer, Orthopedics
2005-present, Reviewer, Society of Critical Care Medicine
2005-present, Reviewer, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery
2005-present, Reviewer, Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics
2005-present, Reviewer, Journal of Arthroscopy and Related Research
2004-present, Reviewer, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research
2003-present, Reviewer, Annals of Internal Medicine
Research Interests
Articular cartilage injury and repair mechanisms Avascular necrosis Stress fractures in adolescents Post-operative pain management in ambulatory surgery patients
Education & training
Medical Degree
MD - University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA
Internship
University of California Hospitals, Department of Surgery, San Francisco, CA
Residency
Orthopedic Surgery - University of California Hospitals, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco General Hospital, Veteran's Administration Hospital, San Francisco, CA
Fellowship
Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery - Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
Publications
Publications
2022
Soroush Baghdadi, Theodore J. Ganley, Lawrence Wells, J. Todd R. Lawrence, Early Identification of Arthrofibrosis in Adolescents Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Is Associated With the Need for Subsequent Surgery: A Matched Case–Control Study, Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic & Related Surgery. Volume 38, Issue 7, 2022. Pages 2278-2286. ISSN 0749-8063,
England P, Aoyama JY, Talwar D, Wells L. Patient and Disease Related Risk Factors Associated With Return to Sport Rates After AVN Treatment. Iowa Orthop J. 2022 Jun;42(1):193-199. PMID: 35821946; PMCID: PMC9210403.
Baghdadi S, Williams BA, Lawrence JTR, Maguire KJ, Wells L, Ganley TJ. Quadriceps Tendon Autograft in Pediatric Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Graft Dimensions and Prediction of Size on Preoperative Mri. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 2022;10(5_suppl2). doi:10.1177/2325967121S00374.
Williams, Brendan A. MD; Oduwole, Samuel BS; Mehta, Nishank N. MD; Talwar, Divya PhD; Nguyen, Jie C. MD, MS; Wells, Lawrence MD. Reliability and Validity of an MRI-Based Knee Sagittal Alignment Measure in a Pediatric Cohort. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics 42(4):p e349-e355, April 2022. | DOI: 10.1097/BPO.0000000000002078.
Soroush Baghdadi, David Isaacs, Calvin T. Chan, Lawrence Wells, Theodore J. Ganley, J. Todd R. Lawrence, Arthroscopic Drilling for Stable Juvenile Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Knee Is Safe and Patients Reliably Return to Daily Activities by 3 Months, Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation. Volume 4, Issue 2, 2022. Pages e645-e651. ISSN 2666-061X.
Nathan D. Markiewitz, Ajith Malige, Kathleen Harwood, Lawrence Wells, Keith D. Baldwin, Brendan A. Williams; Trampolines versus Playgrounds - A Comparative Assessment of Pediatric Fractures Sustained from Recreational Play. Pediatrics February 2022; 149 (1 Meeting Abstracts February 2022): 799.
Markiewitz ND, Swarup I, Talwar D, Muhly WT, Wells L, Williams BA. Perioperative Pain Management Practices Vary Across Time and Setting for Pediatric ACL Reconstruction: Trends From a National Database in the United States. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 2022;10(1). doi:10.1177/23259671211068831.
2021
Baghdadi S, VanEenenaam DP, Williams BA, et al. Quadriceps Tendon Autograft in Pediatric ACL Reconstruction: Graft Dimensions and Prediction of Size on Preoperative MRI. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 2021;9(12). doi:10.1177/23259671211056678.
Williams BA, Harwood K, Markiewitz N, Malige A, Baldwin KD, Wells L. Seasonal variability and age-related risk in youth trampoline injuries. Pediatr Int. 2021 Oct;63(10):1230-1235. doi: 10.1111/ped.14652. Epub 2021 Sep 22. PMID: 33567121.
Malige, A., Wells, L., Brooks, J.T. et al. A Cross-Sectional Evaluation of the Successful Minority Applicant to Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Programs. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 9, 2164–2170 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-01155-9.
Baghdadi S, Isaacs D, Chan C, Wells L, Ganley TJ, Lawrence JT. COMPLICATIONS OF ARTHROSCOPIC DRILLING IN THE TREATMENT OF OSTEOCHONDRITIS DISSECANS OF THE KNEE IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 2021;9(7_suppl3). doi:10.1177/2325967121S00099.
DePalma M, Gupta S, Nguyen J, Talwar D, Arkader A, Wells L. Do Not Miss the Tumor: A Novel Presentation of Osteosarcoma. Case Rep Pediatr. 2021 May 13;2021:5531238. doi: 10.1155/2021/5531238. PMID: 34055442; PMCID: PMC8137287.
Anandarajan D, Williams BA, Markiewitz ND, Talwar D, Wells L. Perioperative Opioid Exposure Patterns in Pediatric Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Ten-Year Administrative Database Study. Cureus. 2021 Mar 16;13(3):e13927. doi: 10.7759/cureus.13927. PMID: 33868860; PMCID: PMC8049382.
2020
Leska TM, McNeely, LW, Wells L. How We Continued to Care for Our Patients: The Rapid Implementation of Telemedicine to Provide Pediatric Musculoskeletal Care in Response to COVID-19 at a Large Academic Children’s Hospital. JPOSNA. Vol 2 No 1 (2020): May 2020.
2017
Chilutti Abel K, Baldwin K, Chuo J, Ganley T, Kim A, Wells L, Giordano T. Can Telemedicine Be Used for Adolescent Postoperative Knee Arthroscopy Follow-up? JBJS JOPA. 2017; 5(4): e26.
2011
Namdari S, Ganley TJ, Baldwin K, Rendon SN, Hosalkar H, Nikci V, et al. Fixation of displaced midshaft clavicle fractures in skeletally immature patients. J Pediatr Orthop. 2011 Jul-Aug;31(5):507-11. Cited in PubMed: PMID 21654457.
2010
Greenberg E, Wells L. Hip joint capsule disruption in a young female gymnast. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2010 Nov;40(11):761. Cited in PubMed: PMID 21041967. No abstract available
Park S, Hsu JE, Rendon N, Wolfgruber H, Wells L. The utility of posterior sloping angle in predicting contralateral slipped capital femoral epiphysis. J Pediatr Orthop. 2010 Oct-Nov;30(7):683-9. Cited in PubMed: PMID 20864853.
2009
Wells L, Dyke J, Albaugh J, Ganley TJ. Adolescent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a retrospective analysis of quadriceps strength recovery and return to full activity after surgery. J Pediatric Orthop. 2009 Jul-Aug;29(5):486-9. Cited in PubMed: PMID 19568022.
Kleposki RW, Wells L, Wilson M, Sehgal K. Rotator cuff injuries in skeletally immature patients: prevention and indications for the orthopedic nurse. Orthop Nurs. 2009 May-Jun;28(3):134-8; quiz 139-40. Cited in PubMed: PMID 19494761.
Cameron D, Wells L. Hemiepiphyseal stapling for treatment of genu valgum: a case report, University of Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Journal. 2009 Apr;19: 27.
Editorials, Reviews, Chapters
2010
Wells L, Sehgal K, Dormans JP. Common fractures. In: Kliegman RM, editor. Nelson's textbook of pediatrics. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 2010. ch. 682.
Wells L, Sehgal K. The knee. In: Kliegman RM, editor. Nelson's textbook of pediatrics. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 2010. ch. 676.
Wells L, Sehgal K, Dormans JP. Evaluation of child. In: Kliegman RM, editor. Nelson's textbook of pediatrics. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 2010. ch. 672.
Wells L, Sehgal K. Torsional and angular deformities. In Kliegman RM, editor. Nelson's textbook of pediatrics. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 2010. ch. 674.
2004
Wells L. Lower extremity trauma. In: Dormans J, editor. Requisites in pediatrics: pediatric orthopaedics & sports medicine. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2004.
2003
Wells L. Sports medicine knee pain. In: Dormans J, editor. Essentials of pediatric orthopaedics. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2003. ch. 24.
1994
Wells L. A cost analysis of patient controlled analgesia in patients undergoing outpatient rotator cuff surgery. Leroy Abbott Orthopaedic Society Proceedings 25, 1994.