Christopher Souder, MD: New Trauma Chief at Rady Children’s

Christopher Souder, M.D. has taken the helm as Chief of the Orthopedic Trauma Service at Rady Children’s Hospital and Associate Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

“Dr. Souder has quickly made his mark in pediatric orthopedic surgery and trauma,” said Maya Pring, M.D., Surgery Department Chair and Senior Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon at Rady Children’s and Clinical Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “He not only understands the fast-paced evolution of this field but will further position us to succeed from a technical and leadership perspective.”

“Dr. Souder is a world-class surgeon and his commitment to advocacy and academics makes him the perfect fit to lead our doctors both in surgery and the classroom,” says Peter Newton, M.D., chief of the Division of Orthopedics & Scoliosis, surgeon-in-chief at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego and clinical professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

“The chance to join Rady Children’s and UC San Diego is an unmissable opportunity,” said Dr. Souder. “Children with orthopedic trauma and congenital conditions deserve to live a life filled with physical activity, and I’m passionate about helping them to do so…”

Dr. Souder completed his orthopedic surgery fellowship at Rady Children’s and his internship and orthopedic surgery residency training at Scott & White Memorial Hospital/Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center. He obtained his undergraduate degree at Texas Tech University and his medical degree at the Texas Tech University School of Medicine.

“My role as Chief of the Orthopedic Trauma Service at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego is to organize to create and organize a formal orthopedic trauma room program,” said Dr. Souder to OTW. “This consists of a rotation of eight surgeons covering an ortho trauma room each day. I cover 40-50% of the days as well as maintain the organization of the program to include the schedule and assignments.”

“I have also begun serving the role of Orthopedic Liaison for the Trauma Council for Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. Through this role, I have begun the formation and institution of protocols for the care of trauma patients with open fractures and multiple injuries.”

“For limb reconstruction, we have focused on use of the intramedullary lengthening nail. This can be used in a straightforward manner as an internal device for limb lengthening. I have also used this as an extramedullary device to provide an all-internal lengthening procedure in a patient as young as 5 years of age in order to avoid the need for an external fixator.”

“I have also used intramedullary lengthening nail to perform complex reconstructions to include bone transport which involves transporting bone along the limb to fill large bone defects (plate assisted bone segment transport).”

Research also being an integral part of Dr. Souder’s work, as he explained to OTW, “Research thus far involves trauma looking at fractures of the distal femoral physis as well as rigid intramedullary nail fixation in patients with open growth plates. We are also examining hundreds of radiographs to determine accurate normal values of lower extremity measurements of children at different ages and stages of development.”