Orthopaedic Surgeon, Memphis Orthopaedic Group

When the Cordova High School football team is facing an opponent, team doctor and orthopedic surgeon Chris Ferguson, MD, isn’t always watching the scoreboard. Instead, he’s making sure any injuries the players sustain during the game aren’t compromising shoulders, hips, or knees. As an orthopedic surgeon, it’s his job to make sure the players function at their best.

As a young man fresh out of college, Ferguson started his career as an engineer. But what he discovered was that while he liked the science of engineering, he didn’t like sitting alone in front of a computer screen day after day. His wife, who was an occupational therapist at the time, began assisting an orthopedic group and as Ferguson learned more about orthopedic surgery, he realized that his engineering skills could be put to better use.     

“There were lots of the mechanical principles we study in engineering that apply to structures and machines but can also be applied to the human body,” said Ferguson. In fact, implant manufacturers often use engineers to help create knee and hip implants. Once he got to observe a few surgical procedures, he saw his future. Instead of rethinking how to replace worn out bridges, he’d replace worn out joints instead.           

At age 26, Ferguson went back to school, first to gain the coursework he needed to complete a pre-med degree, then to enter medical school. In 1998, he began his studies at the University of Mississippi and graduated almost a decade later after completing the prestigious AO Fellowship – Trauma in Chur, Switzerland.

Now, Ferguson applies his engineering background as an orthopedic surgeon with Memphis Orthopaedic Group. Unlike the predictability of his old job, Ferguson says he enjoys the variety and attention to detail that each day brings.          

“We take care of fairly healthy patients. Our goal is to take the injured and get them back to functioning. We see everything, from kids with broken bones to elderly people with arthritic hips. There is a row of clinic doors and you never know what you’ll be seeing. So you’re constantly switching gears,” he said.   

Genetics play a large role in joint health, along with the level of activity people engage in over the course of their lives. For some, joints remain strong, but for a small percentage of people, arthritis takes its toll, or knees and hips eventually wear out and need to be replaced.

That is what brings patients to Ferguson’s clinic. Of course, replacement surgery is just a small portion of what he does. Ferguson spends several mornings a week performing less invasive, outpatient surgeries, procedures that correct more common complaints that are sometimes tied to sports, such as a torn meniscus, rotator cuff, or ACL. Wednesday afternoons are reserved for the more complicated replacement surgeries or joint revisions.

“The happiest patients are those with hip replacements,” said Ferguson, “because they experience immediate relief from the pain.” Since replacement joints typically only last 10 to 15 years, doctors often have patients put the surgery off until they are 60 or older, but “now, we’re doing people in their 50s. The problem can be that with getting a new joint at this age, the patient will have to get a second surgery in 20 years.” However, many want to improve their quality of life now, so Ferguson arms them with the best information he can on joint replacement, so they make an informed decision.

Projections show that as baby boomers march toward retirement, the number of knee and hip replacement surgeries will increase dramatically. Yet Ferguson said due to the decline in Medicare dollars, there’s not a lot of incentive for young doctors to go into orthopedics,

despite the field’s having made significant strides over the past several decades. Unlike years ago, when knee or hip replacements were completed in a hospital and required months of recovery time, incisions today are smaller, there are fewer wound problems, and patients are up and walking almost immediately following surgery.

“Motion is life; you want to keep the joint moving. We now know that the benefits of exercise far outweigh any damage you’ll do to the joint,” he said.

Ferguson said that anesthesia is also more effective today, which helps to make the post-operative pain management much more doable.

One common problem Ferguson said he sees is treating patients who are obese. For those who have a larger BMI, the higher the problem for wound recovery and infection. Obesity puts lots of stress on joints and brings medical complications of its own, like hypertension and diabetes. When faced with having to perform replacement surgery on someone 400 pounds or more, Ferguson often tells patients they must lose weight before he can do the procedure.

The doctor is doing his part to keep his own joints healthy. He enjoys long-distance cycling and is currently training for a 150-mile ride to benefit multiple sclerosis. When not seeing patients or cycling, Ferguson enjoys spending time with his wife and three girls.

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