Peter A. Cole, MD

12/15/2025

Jamming with Japan

Can’t stop thinking about Japan! I arrived the day after Ohtani & Yamamoto hauled their team to World Series history and a week after the president and prime minister rallied in Tokyo, a reveling in US-Japan relations.

My mission was to heighten awareness and advance treatment for Scapula and Rib Fractures at The AO Trauma Masters Course for Complex Fractures. The interest level was as high as I have witnessed anywhere and I congratulate the hosts and participants for their exceptionalism in academics and hospitality. In fact, the hospitality was so outrageous, they built a pub for me!

Whether keynote addresses, groupcase-based discussions, or cadaver workshops, these new friends were locked-in. Perhaps the highlight for me was to answer the question over a plenary lunchtime session, “How did all this work on the scapula and chest wall get started?” The underlying curiosity was, how does one go about operating in new spaces where no evidence yet exists? This is a very important question.

12/10/2025

What’s next at the ?
🎥 Tune in for tomorrow's Window on the AO Davos Courses—streaming live interviews, 💬 case discussions, and 🚀 innovation showcases.

📅 Session highlights on December 11:

⏰ 10:20 AM - 11:15 AM CET
🦴 Tips and tricks in the reduction of complex plateau fractures
In this AO Trauma live surgery demonstration, our expert surgeons, Sean Nork and Robinson Pires, showcase tips and tricks for the reduction of complex plateau fractures.

⏰ 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM CET
💪 Scapula fractures
Expert surgeon Peter Cole will help you enhance your knowledge and skills for the treatment of scapula fractures in this AO Trauma live surgery demonstration.

🔐 Log in to watch: https://ow.ly/IXF650XGPr9

12/08/2025

AO-THEG (expert group) on 2-day Swiss Grind! As productive a meeting as we've had!

TH=Thoracic
EG=Expert Group
AO=Arbeitsgemeinschaftfüf Osteosynthesefragen
and is German for Association for the Study of Internal Fixation of Fractures, a pioneering group of Swiss surgeons founded in 1958 to standardize and advance surgical treatment for fractures.

Innovation for chest wall pathology solutions;
Advancing research protocols; Education for AO Reference; Research Institute tour; Celebration!

12/03/2025

drpetercole.com

12/03/2025

11/20/2025

"The largest GAP between standard of care and standard of practice exists in the surgical stabilization of rib fractures—SSRF.” I have quoted my friend Fred Pierracci many times while teaching on the subject since I heard him say this during his Presidential Chest Wall Injury Society Address several years ago. It is estimated that perhaps only 10% of indicated rib fractures are treated with surgical stabilization, and the morbidity and mortality of this missed opportunity is high.

ACS Press Release: https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/trauma/quality/best-practices-guidelines/

Just over a year ago, I was asked to be a part of a task force to write the 1rst ever guidelines on Chest Wall Injury for the American College of Surgeons. With tremendous respect for the project Co-Chairs, Mike McKee and Ron Gross, I could not say no despite the proposed aggressive schedule to HAMMER through the project inside of a year with biweekly meetings, “Are you kidding me!”

https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/trauma/quality/best-practices-guidelines/ ………and here we are!

There are few published documents that influence care—CHANGE CARE—like ACS Best Practice Guidelines. It was a high honor to be one of two orthopedic surgeons from North America selected for this activity and it was a career highlight. I am thankful to our Chairman and all members for such a growth opportunity. The endorsement of this document from not only ACS but the Orthopaedic Trauma Association and Chest Wall Injury Society brings it even closer to home. Congratulations!

11/11/2025

Lateral Implosion Injuries………….are THE BOMB!! 💣💥

After treating myriads of patients with Scapula Fractures, I began seeing associated injuries and started thinking about all this pathology in a different way. It was like taking off one blinder after another, opening my scapula mind to a shoulder girdle mind, and then to the world of ribs, and then subsequently to an extent that my entire patient practice has evolved into a fascinating Ortho-Thoracic career.

Thanks to my wonderful co-authors, we responded with a multidisciplinary themed article which underscores the recognition of traditional orthopaedic diagnoses for general & thoracic surgeons, which promotes better communication between trauma-focused specialties.

“Lateral implosion injury: a multidisciplinary management approach”

https://ccts.amegroups.org/article/view/104671/html

11/06/2025

11/03/2025

Hats off to Dr. Andy Choo, founder of ULTRA, the Upper Limb Trauma Association within the Orthopaedic Trauma Association. This was the 3rd Annual meeting—awesome!

*A few highlights for me: Many competent scapula surgeons in the house – Keynote address by Dr. Christian Ge**er a smashing success – SC Joint dislocation surgery is finding a mainstream!

10/28/2025

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you’ll join the Orthopaedic Trauma Association Webinar tomorrow, Wednesday the 29th at 8:00 p.m. CT, on a topic that’s become a true passion of mine—one that began with my love for scapula fractures. You see, rib fractures go together so often in the Forequarter Lateral Implosion Injury. My guests are the absolute best educators in the field of rib fracture management—starting with my colleague “Weatherby,” known simply by his last name, along with Tom White and Evert Eriksson, the Founder & Chairman and the current President of the Chest Wall Injury Society. One hour—have a blast!

REGISTER HERE: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/vJAkdu-qpj0jZdNiEDs3kOhK8r4b_hRwFA

10/22/2025

It was awesome to mix it up with Drs. Niloofar Dehghan, Ken Egol, and Mike McKee on a shoulder trauma dinner bash at Chico Malo with some serious shoulder trauma fans. Also, a special thanks to “The Company Formerly known as Exactech” for a great evening…we cannot wait to hear the new name—coming soon! 🔜

10/14/2025

One of the most vexing challenges in the realm of Scapula Fracture Surgery and Total Shoulder Replacements is the dreaded acromion fracture associated with a Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty. It is an extremely painful condition which occurs in about 5% of patients who undergo a shoulder replacement which means there are about over 7,000/year in America alone. I joined a team of 5 fracture & arthroplasty surgeons and 3 engineers to develop a solution for this problem which is being introduced at the Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association this week in Phoenix, AZ. I will have the opportunity to expand upon a surgical solution which will help solve this problem.

REGISTER HERE: https://web.cvent.com/event/9a1b529a-1da5-4f60-9418-22e983541603/summary?RefId=Summary%2FWebsite%2FPDF

Displayed are X-Ray images of methods I have employed to fix the problem to now, and an illustration of the new plate used for fractures of the Acromion Spine.