Allison Rao, MD, joins The Christ Hospital Health Network, brings sports medicine expertise and cutting-edge procedure not readily used in the region to hospital’s orthopaedic program

The Christ Hospital Health Network is pleased to announce that Allison Rao, MD, has joined the Network’s orthopaedic program, which includes a national-destination Joint & Spine Center.

The Christ Hospital Health Network is pleased to announce that Allison Rao, MD, has joined the Network’s orthopaedic program, which includes a national-destination Joint & Spine Center. Dr. Rao brings an innovative sports medicine procedure not yet widely used in the region– a unique hybrid ACL reconstruction, designed to minimize risk of ACL re-tear and give patients confidence to be active again.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Allison Rao to our orthopaedic team,” said John Roberts, MD, Executive Medical Director of Musculoskeletal Services at The Christ Hospital. “She is bringing cutting edge sports medicine techniques to the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky communities and will be an instrumental part of providing exceptional care to all patients, including a focus on women with sports injuries.”

Dr. Rao is an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine and shoulder surgery with an emphasis on innovative, arthroscopic procedures and complex, open surgeries of the shoulder, elbow, and knee. She treats a full spectrum of orthopedic injuries in patients and athletes of all ages, with a special interest in shoulder injuries and surgery. She is actively involved in clinical research and is an expert in nonsurgical management and rehabilitation of sports-related injuries such as tennis elbow, meniscus tears, rotator cuff tears, shoulder dislocations, shoulder arthritis, and ACL injuries.

“My goal is to use evidence-based, individualized treatment plans to get patients back to the activities they love and prevent future injury,” said Dr. Rao. "I love helping patients of all ages, especially athletes, to continue to do the sports and activities they love. As a born-and-raised Midwesterner, I'm thrilled to be back and close to family. Christ is a premier destination for healthcare, and especially Orthopedics, so I could not be more excited to be a part of the team."

Dr. Rao completed her Sports Medicine, Shoulder, and Elbow Fellowship at top-ranked OrthoCarolina, where she had extensive hands-on experience in sports medicine and shoulder surgery, treating recreational, high school, collegiate, and professional athletes. She has team coverage experience with Carolina Panthers Football, University of North Carolina Charlotte Football, University of North Carolina Charlotte Basketball, Davidson College Football, Gardner-Webb University Football, Charlotte Knights Triple-A Baseball, Chicago Joffrey Ballet, and Roosevelt College Basketball, as well as local high school teams.

In addition to her fellowship training, Dr. Rao received her undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with honors. She earned her medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine and completed the top 5 ranked orthopedic surgery residency at Rush University in Chicago, IL.

Along with her extensive expertise, Dr. Rao also brings an innovative ACL repair technique to The Christ Hospital that is not yet widely used in the Greater Cincinnati region. The ACL is the most frequently injured ligament in the knee, and reconstructions are common for both athletes and those living their everyday lives. Reconstruction is often required after the injury, which involves creating a new ligament with placement through bone tunnels. With reconstruction comes the potential for failure down the road with an estimated 5-15% of patients requiring a revision. Studies have shown that surgeon technical error, most commonly with improper tunnel placement, is the cause of failure up to 70% of the time. Dr. Rao utilizes a new technique, which is a hybrid of the best qualities of two existing, popular ACL reconstruction techniques, helping surgeons more easily achieve anatomically correct ligament tunnel placement. This technique recently won an award for innovation and advancement by the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine. Performing reconstructions in this manner can potentially lead to lower ACL reconstruction failure rates and re-operations, which can cause anxiety in individuals and prevent them from getting back to sports, or even playing with their kids. Giving patients confidence that their ACL reconstruction will be long-lasting, and lessening the fear of a reinjury, is critical.

About The Christ Hospital Health Network: The Christ Hospital Health Network is an acute care hospital located in Mt. Auburn with six ambulatory centers and dozens of offices conveniently located throughout the region. More than 1,200 talented physicians and more than 6,000 dedicated team members support the Network. Its mission is to improve the health of the community and to create patient value by providing exceptional outcomes and the finest experiences, all in an affordable way. The Network has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 hospital in the Cincinnati Region and awarded Healthgrades “America’s 50 Best Hospitals” for being in the top 1% in the nation for providing the highest clinical quality year over year. It is also a Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award recipient, which recognizes top-performing healthcare organizations that achieve the 95th percentile or above of performance in patient experience. The Christ Hospital is among a select number of hospitals in the nation to be awarded Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence. For more than 130 years, The Christ Hospital has provided compassionate care to those it serves.