PHILADELPHIA — Considered the father of orthoplastic surgery and a champion of reconstructive microsurgery, L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS, the Paul B. Magnuson Professor and chair of Orthopaedic Surgery and a professor of Surgery in Plastic Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, is the winner of the 2022 Kappa Delta Elizabeth Winston Lanier Award for establishing and evolving those fields’ approach to the care of serious extremity injuries. Administered by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, it is one of the most prestigious awards in the field of orthopaedic surgery, recognizing those who have made significant advances in research that have the potential to significantly improve patient care.
“Along with my mentors and colleagues, I’ve spent four decades researching and developing techniques to advance patient care and educate others on the full spectrum of reconstructive microsurgery to improve limb salvage,” said Levin. “So much time has been put into this work, and I’m proud of how it has manifested into improving outcomes for so many patients.”
Levin summarized his work in a paper that outlines how microsurgery (in which operating microscopes and precision instruments are used for delicate operations) and orthoplastic surgery (the melding of concepts from both plastic and orthopaedic surgery) evolved over the years and took the field of extremity repair forward.
In the paper, Levin described the “microsurgery ladder” that he first wrote about in 1993, which created a guide for microsurgical techniques for any orthopaedic condition. The first rung of that ladder is replantation – the reattachment of a person’s own body part, like a finger amputated in an accident. This has been a part of the field since the beginning of microsurgery 60 years ago. At present, though, the top of that ladder is vascularized composite allotransplantation – the transfer of a part from one person’s body to another person’s, such as a hand transplanted to a person whose hand was removed due to trauma or infection.
Additionally, Levin described the origins and evolution of orthoplastic surgery, starting with his inspiration from combat care of wounded warriors to current-day allotransplantation – such as the bilateral hand transplants he has performed with the multidisciplinary Penn Hand Transplant team – and the development of free tissue transplantation and vascularized (meaning the inclusion of functioning blood vessels) bone grafting. A great point of emphasis in the field is recognizing the aesthetics of repaired limbs and improving their appearance, a great value to patients. Moving forward, Levin wrote that work in vascularized elbow transplantation is proving promising for eventual use in young patients who have suffered trauma to that part of their arm.
“Extremity surgery has improved exponentially over the last 60 years and I am optimistic about the direction it is heading,” Levin said. “Our next great hurdle is solving the immunologic barriers to allotransplantation, which I’ll spend the rest of my career working on. Doing so will create a wide swath of opportunity for extremity reconstruction.”
Kappa Delta Awards have been awarded since 1947, and several current Penn Medicine faculty members have been winners, including Kristy L. Weber, MD, Louis J. Soslowsky, PhD, and Robert L. Mauck, PhD. As this year’s honoree, Levin will be awarded $20,000 and celebrated at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting in Chicago in late March.
“I am deeply humbled and want to bring attention to the countless residents, fellows, and research scholars who I’ve worked with throughout my career,” Levin said. “Their questions sparked research work that contributed to the development of Orthoplastic surgery and advanced the techniques we use for limb salvage. Without these questions and the tireless work to answer them, these fields would not have benefitted so many people.”
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