Rodney Benner, MD

Rodney Benner, MD, understands what patients with knee problems want: to feel better and get back to living, working and playing.

Helping Patients Get Back to Life

Dr. Benner knows that most patients don’t really want to have surgery. He focuses on treating knee problems, especially arthritis, with specialized physical therapy and other non-surgical treatments. Dr. Benner only recommends knee replacement surgery or another type of surgery if physical therapy doesn’t relieve symptoms enough.

Developing an Interest in Knees

When he was in medical school, Dr. Benner wanted to learn more about treating athletic injuries. He sought out K. Donald Shelbourne, MD, and started working part-time doing research at the Shelbourne Knee Center. The research program tracks patient outcomes and studies factors related to those outcomes to determine how to improve treatment for knee injuries and conditions.

Dr. Benner liked being part of a team that was dedicated to helping every patient with a knee problem have a good result. He was impressed with the way Dr. Shelbourne used research results to continually improve care for patients.

While working at the Shelbourne Knee Center, Dr. Benner developed an interest in focusing on knees. He wanted to build in-depth expertise in knee injuries and conditions instead of becoming a general orthopedic surgeon.

Studying Knee Replacement and Other Knee Care

After graduating from medical school, Dr. Benner completed specialized training in orthopedic surgery, including knee replacement. He completed an orthopedic surgery residency at The Campbell Clinic, where he learned from the doctors who write Campbell’s Operative Orthopaedics, the best textbook for orthopedic surgery.

Then Dr. Benner completed a fellowship in knee surgery, sports medicine and knee replacement at The Insall Scott Kelly Institute. The institute is named after Dr. John Insall, who is considered the father of modern knee replacement surgery.

Returning to the Shelbourne Knee Center

After completing his training, Dr. Benner returned to the Shelbourne Knee Center. Dr. Benner conducts research with Dr. Shelbourne to continue to improve treatment for knee injuries and conditions. He has published more than 15 journal articles and three book chapters. He has given more than 25 presentations.

Specialties

• Non-surgical treatment of knee problems.
• Knee replacement.
• Complex revision knee replacement.
• Knee arthroscopy.
• Knee ligament reconstruction.

Read more about how Dr. Benner helps athletes recover from knee injuries.