William Lavelle, MD

Adult & Pediatric Spine Surgery / Scoliosis Surgery

Dr. William Lavelle is an avid researcher in adult and pediatric spine surgery, including growing spine techniques such as the VEPTR (titanium rib) for early onset scoliosis. His interests also include adult and pediatric spinal cord injury, cervical kyphosis, adult and pediatric scoliosis, spinal osteotomy, and spinal outcomes research.

Education and Training

Undergraduate: Pre-Medical, Wilkes University, 1998
Medical School: MD, MCP Hahnemann University School of Medicine, 2002
Residency: Albany Medical Center, 2002-2007
Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic, 2007-2008

Board Certification

American Board of Orthopedic Surgeons

Hospital Privileges

Upstate University Hospital
Crouse Hospital
Upstate Orthopedics Ambulatory Surgery Center
St. Joseph’s Hospital

Professional Affiliations

American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery
Scoliosis Research Society
North American Spine Society
Chest Wall and Spinal Deformity Study Group
Orthopedic Research and Education
New York State Society of Orthopedic Surgeons
American Orthopaedic Association, Emerging Leaders Program

Honors and Awards

Albany Medical College Resident Research Award (Paul Clark Award), 2007
American Orthopaedic Association Resident Leader, 2006
Horvatt Scholarship to College and Medical School, 1994-2002
Guthrie Premedical Scholar, 1994-1998
Wilkes Presidential Scholarship, 1994-1998
Catherine H. Bone Award for Chemistry, 1998
Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, 1995-1998
Schubb Scholarship, 1994-1998
Freshman Chemistry Award, 1995
Capone Scholarship, 1994
Elks Club Scholarship, 1994
Chemical Rubber Company Award for Outstanding Contribution, 1994

Clinical Interests

Adult and pediatric spinal deformity, scoliosis, kyphosis, adult and pediatric spinal trauma, degenerative spine surgery, growing spine technology, kyphoplasty

Publications

Carl, A., Sharan, A.D., Lavelle, W., “Trends in spine surgery-the perfect storm,” European Musculoskeletal Review, 2012; 7(2): 91-3.
Metkar, U., Wardak, Z., Katz, D., Lavelle,W.F., “Giant cell tumor of a lumbar vertebra in a 7 year old child: A case report,” J Pediatr Orthop., 2012 Dec; 32(8): e76-80.
Lavelle, W., Lavelle, E.D., Lavelle, L., “Intra-articular injections,” Med Clin North Am., 2007 Mar; 91 (2): 241-50. (Invited Reprint in Anesthesiol Clin. Dec; 25 (4): 853-862.)
Lavelle, W., Carl, A., Lavelle, E.D., “Invasive and minimally invasive surgical techniques for back pain conditions,” Med Clin North Am., 2007 Mar; 91 (2): 287-298. (Invited Reprint in Anesthesiol Clin. 2007 Dec; 25 (4): 899-911.)
Karam, M., Lavelle, W.F., Cheney, R., “The role of bone scintigraphy in treatment planning, and predicting pain relief after kyphoplasty,” Nucl Med Commun., 2008 Mar; 29 (3): 247-253.
Kitab, S.A., Miele, V.J., Lavelle, W.F., “Benzel EC. Pathoanatomic basis for stretch-induced lumbar nerve root injury with a review of the literature,” Neurosurgery, 2009 Jul; 65 (1): 161-8.
Betz, R.R., Lavelle, W.F., Samdani, A.F., “Bone grafting options in children,” Spine, 2010 Aug 1; 35 (17): 1648-1654.
Riesenburger, R.I., Potluri, T., Kulkarni, N., Lavelle, W.F., Roguski, M., Goel, V.K., Benzel, E.C., “Unilateral cervical facet dislocation: A biomechanical study of several constructs including unilateral lateral mas fixation supplemented by an interspinous cable,” J Neurosurg Spine, 2012 Mar; 16(3): 251-256.
Ordway, N.R., Lavelle, W.F., Brown, T., “Bao Q-B. Biomechanical assessment and fatigue characteristics of an articulating nucleus implant,” International J Spine Surgery, 2013 Dec; (7) e109-e117.

Presentations

Lavelle, W., Lieberman, I., Mroz, T., “Discetomy after selective nerve root blocks for patients with a lumbar disc herniation,” Presentation, North American Spine Society 23rd Annual Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Oct 14-18, 2008.
Lavelle, W., Karam, M., Cheney, R., Uhl, R., “Importance of skeletal scintigraphy in preoperative patient evaluation for kyphoplasty,” Podium Presentation, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in San Francisco, CA, Mar 7, 2008.
Lavelle, W., “Short segment fusion for degenerative ,” Young spine surgeons forum- North American Spine Society 23rd Annual Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Oct 13, 2008.
Lavelle, W., Evanchick, K., Orr, R.D., “The effect of smoking on the improvement in pain scores for patients undergoing limited transforaminal lumbar fusion,” Paper, Lumbar Spine Research Society Chicago, Apr 2-3, 2009.
Demers, E., Lavelle, W., Youssef, G., Monir-Soliman, L., Goodwin, R., “The side effects and safety of epidural analgesia following pedatric scoliosi surgery,” Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, Jacksonville, FL, Mar 19-22, 2009.
Lavelle W., Mroz, T., Steinmetz, M.D., “Lumbar discectomy after epidural injection or selective nerve root blocks,” Presentation, North American Spine Society Spine Across The Seas Meeting in Hawaii, Jul 26-30, 2009.