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For nearly two decades, Dr. Bobby Chhabra has enjoyed a career as an orthopedic surgeon. Currently, Dr. Bobby Chhabra holds a number of positions throughout the University of Virginia Health System. His academic appointments include Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Professor of Plastic Surgery. He directs the school’s Hand Center as well as its Orthopedic Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship. In 2011, Dr. Bobby Chhabra received the appointment of Associate Chief Medical Officer of Surgical Services. Additionally, he functions as Vice Chairman of the Department of Orthopedics, holds the Charles J. Frankel Endowed Chair of Orthopedic Surgery, and is a faculty member for several fellowship programs. Dr. Bobby Chhabra also provides hand and upper extremity surgery consultation for the University of Virginia athletic program and is an assistant team physician for the UVA Athletic Department. Prior to launching his career, Dr. Chhabra earned his Bachelor of Arts in Biology from John Hopkins University. He went on to complete his M.D. at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Over the next several years, he completed an internship, a research fellowship and his Orthopaedic residency at the school. He finished his training at the Hand Center of San Antonio and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, where he completed a fellowship in hand, microvascular, and congenital hand surgery. Since launching his career, Dr. Bobby Chhabra has actively participated in his professional community. He holds membership in organizations, including the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery, the American Society of Surgery of the Hand, the American Orthopedic Association, the Southeastern Hand Surgery Club, and the Academy of Distinguished Educators. He acts as Associate Editor for the Journal of Hand Surgery. He has served as a Council Member-at-Large for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Dr. Chhabra also remains involved with the Virginia Orthopedic Society, having served as its president, secretary, treasurer, and board member in the past.

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Three Common Nerve Injuries in the Hand

The hand is a crucial part of the human body, but is susceptible to various nerve injuries that can significantly impact daily functioning. Common nerve injuries affecting the hand include carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome, and radial nerve palsy.

Carpal tunnel syndrome arises from the compression of the median nerve that extends from the forearm to the palm. It often occurs in individuals who engage in repetitive hand movements like typing or tool usage. Symptoms include numbness, tingling, and weakness in the hand particularly involving the thumb, index, middle fingers.

Cubital tunnel syndrome results from compression of the ulnar nerve at the elbow. This syndrome is common in individuals who habitually bend their elbows for prolonged periods during activities, such as talking on the phone or sleeping. Symptoms include numbness, tingling, and weakness in the ring and little fingers.

Radial nerve palsy involves the radial nerve, which controls wrist and finger movement. It can occur due to upper arm, elbow, or wrist trauma and cause difficulty in extending and lifting the hand. Symptoms of radial nerve palsy include hand and wrist weakness, numbness, and an inability to open the wrist and fingers.

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New UVA Orthopedic Center with Modern Facilities for Convenience

Bobby Chhabra is a physician that specializes in orthopedic hand surgery. As a member of faculty at the University of Virginia and a staff of its hospital, Bobby Chhabra was the physician lead in the creation of and championed the launch of the new UVA Health Orthopedic Center.

The new UVA Health Orthopedic Center opened in February 2022 on Ivy Road in Charlottesville, Virginia. For ten years, Dr. Bobby Chhabra and his team had envisioned and worked towards making the 200,000-square-foot facility a top-notch reality.

The new Orthopedic Center features over 90 exam rooms, six operating rooms, a pharmacy, surgery support center, imaging facilities, and an eatery. Also, an ultramodern physical therapy center are part of the new facility. These features have been carefully designed and equipped with quality materials to provide convenience and a beautiful experience for patients, their families, and staff members. Further, the center provides, in one place, treatment centers and specialists for any orthopedic injury. Consequently, individuals with injuries of different nature no longer have to travel around and can get treated in the same building.

In addition, the orthopedic center also has an education and bio skills lab where medical students, residents, and fellows at the University of Virginia, can receive the best training from experienced specialists. Equipment to aid clinical research is also in place in the new facility for its doctors.

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Groin Strengthening Exercises

Dr. Bobby Chhabra is a director at UVA Orthopaedic Center at the University of Virginia Health. In his free time, Bobby Chhabra MD works as a physician who specializes in treating elbow and sports injuries.

A groin strain is a pain in the inner thigh area that occurs due to overstretching one of the muscles or tendons inside your thigh. Groin strengthening exercises can be a significant part of the recovery process from groin strain.

A vital strengthening exercise for the groin is gradually stretching the muscles inside your groin. Place your recovering feet facing forward, and bend your knee to perform a sideways lunge to shift your body weight away from the affected side. You will feel the stretch on the inside of your groin. So, it is advisable to hold the stretch for thirty seconds on a set of three or even more.

Also, completing the sumo squat is highly recommended. As pain allows, slowly drop down into a squat, and then slowly push back up; complete eight sets.

It would help if you also involved yourself in other basic stretches. These include seated leg stretch, side-lying groin stretch, barre leg stretch, long adductor stretch, and seated forward fold stretch. All of these fitness exercises will help in strengthening your groin and also recovering from groin pain.

Once you can move your hip with no discomfort, you can consider gradually reintroducing yourself to your normal way of life.

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Three Common Types of Orthopedic Surgeries

Bobby Chhabra is an orthopedic hand surgeon at the University of Virginia (UVA) Orthopedics Center, where he serves as a professor and chair of orthopedic surgery. In 2006, Bobby Chhabra was awarded best lecturer for the Miller Orthopedic Board Review Course. Orthopedic surgeries are surgeries that intend to repair the musculoskeletal system. The musculoskeletal system refers to the different parts of the body ranging from joints, ligaments, tendons, nerves, bones, and muscles. This means that an orthopedic doctor is responsible for treating broken bones, torn tendons, nerve injuries, and muscle injuries. Depending on the patient's condition, orthopedic surgeons perform different types of surgeries. As its name implies, revision joint surgery is a type of surgery that revises or corrects defective implants. The old implant is removed and replaced with a new one with this procedure, hence the name. Further, joint replacement procedures are arguably the most common type of orthopedic surgery. This type of orthopedic procedure involves the replacement of damaged joints with prosthetic ones. Spinal fusion is another common type of orthopedic surgery that repairs or stabilizes a damaged or arthritic spine by fusing or joining different vertebrae.

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What Is a Fasciotomy?

Bobby Chhabra, MD, an award-winning medical practitioner, attended John Hopkins University, obtaining his BA in biological sciences. He founded the UVA Orthopedics Center which opened in 2022 after 10 years of planning and development. Hand surgery refers to the processes involved in ensuring the upper extremity (hand, forearm, and upper arm) functions correctly. Surgeons also perform hand surgery to bring back the hand’s range of motion by operating on the nerves and tendons. In addition, several kinds of hand surgery exist; some include skin flaps, skin grafts, arthroplasty, and fasciotomy. A fasciotomy is a surgery executed to relieve pressure in some body parts after high energy trauma. Typically, the blood vessels, muscles, and nerves are in distinct areas known as compartments, which a slender tissue casing (fascia) covers. So, conditions like inflammation or edema (fluid buildup) can pressure these compartments, decreasing blood flow. Consequently, the nerves and muscle tissues in those compartments may be compromised. As stated earlier, surgeons perform a fasciotomy to relieve those pressured areas. When a person suffers from pressured compartments in their hand, they may feel severe discomforts in that region; have disruption of their blood flow and their sensory and motor function. To treat such a condition, surgeons incise the skin and facsia of the arm or hand in an emergent manner; such action reduces the tension in the area and brings blood circulation back to normal. In addition, the doctors may clear away any damaged hand tissue to avert future complications.

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AOA Combats Fragility Fractures

Surgeon Bobby Chhabra is the founder of the UVA Orthopedic Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. Dr. Bobby Chhabra’s membership in the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA) enhances his work with injuries to the wrist, hand, and elbow. Founded in 1887, the AOA deals with the complications of osteoporosis and low bone density, among other things. The organization has launched Own the Bone, an information-sharing program that addresses the prevalence of fragility fractures after falls by adults over 50. Fragility fractures are serious problems: half of all women and a quarter of men face a significantly greater risk of a second fragility fracture after a first one. Approximately 80 percent of people in this category fail to receive appropriate osteoporosis treatment and education, resulting in billions of dollars of preventable medical costs. Own the Bone provides a secure database of treatment histories, patient demographics, density testing results, and other information. Users require no special software, just an Internet connection and a browser. The system allows doctors to make the best choices from possible treatments, such as exercise, fall avoidance education, medications, and calcium and vitamin D supplements. For more information, visit www.aoassn.org.

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Microvascular Surgery May Help Avoid Amputation

As the founder of the new UVA Health Orthopedic Center at the University of Virginia, Dr. Bobby Chhabra teaches and practices surgery on the hand, wrist, and elbow. Dr. Bobby Chhabra also specializes in microsurgery, also called microvascular surgery, which includes reattachment of finger or upper extremity amputations, restoration of blood flow to the extremities after trauma and repair or reconstruction of nerve injuries. . Innovations in microsurgery offer an alternative to finger and upper extremity amputations. The amputated part must be kept in a cold environment to have a successful reattachment. Adequate blood circulation is essential to its survival; doctors accomplish this by suturing small blood vessels, generally 3 to 5 millimeters in diameter. Microscopes in the operating room, specially built instruments, and tiny sutures enable surgeons to rejoin veins and arteries, either one end to another end or the side of another vessel. This process also works for severed nerves. Several surgeries may be necessary for a complex reattachment. Survival of a reattached part (termed a replant) takes a dedicated highly trained specialized team of surgeons who have experience with these devastating injuries.

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Causes and Treatment of Golfer's Elbow

Dr. Bobby Chhabra is an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he is a Professor and the Director of the UVA Orthopaedic Center. Specializing in hand and upper extremity surgery, Dr. Bobby Chhabra is knowledgeable about many hand and wrist injuries, including those commonly seen in athletes. Damage to the muscles and tendons that control your wrist and fingers can cause golfer's elbow, also known as medial epicondylitis. Despite the moniker "golfer's elbow," any repetitive hand, wrist, or forearm motions can cause it, as well as sports that rely on throwing movements, such as baseball or javelin throwing, or those that involve repetitive movements, such as weight training and sports involving rackets. Improper lifting, hitting, or overuse can cause golfer's elbow as well. The first step in treatment for golfer's elbow is to avoid painful activities or activities that caused it. Use ice or a brace recommended by your doctor to help relieve pain. Surgery is rarely required, but surgery may is an option if the symptoms do not improve after six to 12 months of conservative treatment. The procedure removes damaged tendon tissue and facilitates healing. It may take up to six months to fully recover and reduce pain.

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Joint Diseases - An Overview and Common Types

Bobby Chhabra is a professor and the chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville. He is also the Director of the UVA Orthopaedic Center. Bobby Chhabra is an orthopedic hand surgeon, a fellow of the American Orthopaedic Association, and a member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Joints, the points where bones meet, include your elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and finger knuckles. Your spine, too, has joints. Joints are more than just bones. They contain different tissues such as cartilage, tendons, and ligaments which allow for stability and painless function. Ailments or injuries that impair your joints are known as joint disorders. Excessive usage or stress of a joint might result in an injury. You could also sustain an unexpected injury, such as through a mishap or playing sports. Joint pain can be brief or extremely chronic, excruciatingly painful, or simply irritating and inconvenient. One of the more commonplace joint diseases is arthritis. Arthritis is a joint disease that affects many people. It is characterized by joint cartilage deterioration. It can produce inflammation and pain, making it hard to move or remain active. Another type of disease that affects the joints is lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune illness that can lead to joint pain and arthritis, fever, rashes on the skin, and organ damage. It can be managed with medication, but there is no cure.

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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Incidence and Treatments

A Charlottesville, Virginia resident, Bobby Chhabra graduated from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He is also an alumnus of Johns Hopkins University, where he obtained a BA in biology. Bobby Chhabra’s relationship with the University of Virginia extends to his professional life; he serves as the UVA Orthopaedic department chair and a hand surgery consultant, specializing in hand and wrist injuries in athletes. An infrequent wrist complaint for athletes in certain sports is carpal tunnel syndrome as a result of overuse. This is caused by the irritation of the median nerve, which runs through the palm and forearm. This overuse injury can lead to tingling or numbness in the hand, making it uncomfortable with use. This is particularly a problem for people like baseball players, tennis players, and rowers who require a lot of precision and strength in hand movements and are at a higher risk than other athletes for placing repetitive pressure on those areas. One non-surgical treatment is corticosteroids injection, which can reduce inflammation and relieve the pressure from the nerve. People can also use cold packs and reduce their swelling, and they should avoid any physical activities that may aggravate the problem. Another surgical treatment is carpal tunnel release surgery, in which the doctor makes an incision through the carpal tunnel and releases the nerve from the pressure.

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The UCL from Sports Throwing

A graduate of Johns Hopkins University and The University of Virginia, Dr. Bobby Chhabra is experienced in medicine and serves as an orthopedic hand surgeon at the University of Virginia. Dr. Chhabra also offered courses at this university, including one on elbow injury as a result of the throwing action in sports. The ulnar collateral ligament tear is a common injury encountered in throwing sports, such as baseball and javelin. The injury is caused from repeated stress and overhead motion of the elbow. Ligaments are a strong form of connective tissue that supports the joints. Where tearing a ligament, sports and work are difficult since the bones move abnormally and there is pain from the injury. An ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear may be diagnosed by X-ray or MRI imaging. It also can be treated non-surgically by rest, anti-inflammatory medication, and physical therapy. There is also the Tommy John surgery for UCL reconstruction. During this procedure, the injured tendon is replaced.

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The Symptoms of Sports Related Tendonitis

A Charlottesville, Virginia, resident, Dr. Bobby Chhabra graduated from the University of Virginia School of Medicine where he earned his medical degree. Currently, Bobby Chhabra serves as a physician and orthopedic hand surgeon at the University of Virginia. While playing sports includes health benefits, it can also lead to injury. Tendonitis is one of the more common hand injuries in sports, as in the case of basketball, football, tennis, or bowling. Tendonitis involves the inflammation of at least one tendon that connects bone to muscle. It typically occurs because of an overuse or force on the tendon. There are several types of tendonitis injuries, including lateral epicondylitis, medial epicondylitis, and rotator cuff tendonitis. Lateral epicondylitis is also known as tennis elbow, and this injury leads to pain at the lateral side of the elbow. Medial epicondylitis is also known as golfer or baseball elbow and involves pain from the medial elbow to the wrist. Rotator cuff tendonitis is the inflammation of the tendons of the shoulder muscles.

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Dr. Bobby Chhabra by NewsRadio WINA

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122718 Dr. Bobby Chhabra by NewsRadio WINA

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Types of Thumb Hypoplasia

As chair of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Virginia Health System, Dr. Bobby Chhabra draws on an in-depth knowledge of hand and upper-extremity surgery. Fellowship-trained in hand, microvascular, and congenital hand surgery at the Hand Center of San Antonio and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, Dr. Bobby Chhabra maintains a particular focus on the treatment of congenital hand deformities such as thumb hypoplasia. Caused by an unidentified abnormality in the embryonic stage of life, thumb hypoplasia presents with an underdeveloped or small thumb. It occurs in one out of every 100,000 live births and affects both hands in 60 percent of cases. The relative severity of each instance places the case into one of five categories. In Type I or “minor” hypoplasia, the thumb has all of the necessary neurovascular, muscular, and skeletal structures, though these are smaller than average. These cases typically require no surgery, though the child may benefit from occupational therapy. Type II presents much like Type I, although the middle joint may be unstable and muscles may be undeveloped or absent. For this reason, a Type II hypoplasia may require surgery. Type III hypoplasia involves abnormally developed joint or thumb muscles, as well as an absence of motion at the middle or upper joints. If the lower joint is intact, surgeons may be able to intervene and improve function. Type IV, known as “floating thumb,” features an absence of bones or muscular structures attaching the thumb to the hand, while Type V indicates a full absence of the thumb. In these cases, the surgeon may wish to remove any remaining structures and address function therapeutically with creation of a new thumb by transferring the adjacent index finger.                            

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Common Athletic Injuries to the Wrist

Dr. Bobby Chhabra, the current Lillian T. Pratt Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, also serves as division head of the Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery at the University of Virginia Health System. Particularly interested in athletic trauma to the hand and wrist, Dr. Bobby Chhabra shares his expertise as the hand and upper extremity consultant to the University of Virginia Department of Athletics. As a complex joint with numerous structures working collaboratively, the wrist is particularly vulnerable to athletic injury. These injuries can be either acute or chronic, depending on their root cause. Acute, or traumatic, injuries tend to affect athletes who play contact sports. The risk also increases in athletes such as tennis players or golfers, as they tend to execute movements that push the structures of the wrist beyond its limits. These and other traumas to the wrist can lead to fractures, joint dislocations, ligament tears, and sprains of various degrees of severity. Chronic injuries, by contrast, tend to result from overuse of or stress on the structures of the hand. Inflammation or dislocation of the tendons are common, as are stress fractures and tenosynovitis (“trigger thumb”). Although chronic injuries are less likely to have severe long-term consequences, they most often require medical attention to preserve the joint's function.                            

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Lillian T. Pratt Distinguished Professor and Department Chair