TODD PITTS, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon

Do you have pain in your hips, knees, wrists, hands, or shoulders your regular doctor can’t fix? If you are struggling to get relief from arthritis, numbness, tingling, a sports injury, or other similar trauma, your primary care doctor will refer you to an orthopedic surgeon like Dr. Todd Pitts.

Dr. Pitts is a leading orthopedic surgeon known for his cutting-edge use of robotics in surgery. His job is to make you better, which does not always require surgery. He exhausts conservative steps to make you better first. If and when a decision is made to proceed with surgery, he makes sure it is an informed decision you will feel confident is the right step for you.

Trained By The Foremost Educators In Orthopedics

Raised in a small Utah town, Dr. Pitts was passionate about playing soccer and enjoying the outdoors. He graduated from the University of Utah in Exercise and Sport Science. After meeting and marrying his wife, Jessica, they moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Dr. Pitts attended medical school at The Medical College of Wisconsin. 

He then completed a 5-year Orthopedic Surgery Residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, where he worked with the foremost educators in orthopedics. He operated shoulder-to-shoulder with the doctors who literally wrote the books on fractures, pediatric orthopedics, the shoulder, and just about every one of the texts used to teach orthopedic medicine. 

While completing a Fellowship in adult knee, hip, and shoulder replacement and reconstruction at the CORE Institute in Pheonix, Arizona, he focused on learning cutting-edge techniques using robotics. As one of the first robotics fellows of this kind, Dr. Pitts has been at the forefront of this exciting new technological advancement in orthopedic medicine since its inception. In 2016, the SCA approved the first robotic knee surgery, and Dr. Pitts was one of the surgeons in the operating room.

How Do Robotics Make Orthopedic Surgery More Effective?

When a joint replacement is required, positioning the implant is an extremely precise procedure. There are many different degrees of how the implant should be placed into your body. With so many degrees of freedom rotating around all axis points, finding the right position for the implant is crucial. However, statistics show that around 50% of the time, the implant is not placed where the surgeon thought it was positioned. Yet, with surgical robotic technology, surgeons get implant placement right on the money 92% of the time. As a result, the healing experience is better, faster, and far less uncomfortable. 

When a surgeon is in the process of a joint replacement, what looks to the human eye like a 45-degree angle may not quite match the precise angle. Sometimes the eye doesn’t catch the difference. But with robotic technology, Dr. Pitts can accurately analyze the precise angle and make adjustments as small as a millimeter, which can make all the difference. The robotics make sure your new implant is placed with exactness.

Dramatically Improving Knee Replacement With Robotics

Do you need a knee replacement? Consider how many variables there are in the human knee. It has so many angles of freedom when working properly. This makes the idea of “exactness” all the more important in a knee replacement procedure. The problem is, the implant size is based on the “average” person, whether you are 4’ 11“ or 6’ 2’’. That’s a lot of room for error. To make sure the implant fits properly, a precise amount of bone has to be cut to fit the implant. But as you can imagine, there’s a big difference between the amount of bone cutting required for a shorter person as compared to a taller person.

With robotics, there is no guesswork. The technology inside the robotic device helps Dr. Pitts measure with exactness before the procedure and again during the procedure to double-check that everything is placed as perfectly as possible. This allows him the peace of mind of a “measure twice, cut once” mentality made possible only through the advanced technology of orthopedic robotics.

Since his very first robotic replacement, Dr. Pitts has never had to adjust his work after the procedure. The robotics allow him to make smaller incisions and conserve bone. In fact, the robotics won’t let him take away more bone than he’s planning to. So, if he’s being human and feeling tired one day during surgery, the robotics remove the possibility for human error. And even though he may be short on sleep, he knows the procedure will be as perfect as possible. 

Surgeon, Soccer Player, Family Man

Dr. Pitts played on the men’s NCAA soccer team in his early college years. He and his wife Jessica have four girls who are the center of their world. After having lived all over the country, they are happy to be in Utah again. They enjoy playing soccer and spending time in the mountains together.

To make an appointment with Summit Brain, Spine, and Orthopedics, call 385.345.3560.

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