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Penn Spine Center Team

Physicians

• Christopher Plastaras, MD - Director, Penn Spine Center
• David Lenrow, MD - Attending Physiatrist
• Don Macron, MD - Spine & Sports Fellow 2009-2010
• Anand Joshi, MD - Spine & Sports Fellow 2009-2010

Nursing and Support Staff

• Coleen McLaughlin, XRT (Radiographer)
• Rebecca Rushin (Senior Secretary)
• Andrea Tarquinio, RN (Nursing)
• Wendy Tripician, RN (Nursing)
• Theresa Pandola (Office Manager)

Christopher Plastaras, MD

Spine & Sports Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Director, Penn Spine Center
Chief, Division of Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation
Director, Spine, Sports, & Musculoskeletal Medicine Fellowship

Christopher T. Plastaras, MD, joins the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as Assistant Professor of PM&R as the Director of the Penn Spine Center.

Dr. Plastaras received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his internship at Albert Einstein Medical Center and his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. He practiced for 9 years at Northwestern University/Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Spine & Sports Rehabilitation Center. He is board certified in Sports Medicine, Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

Dr. Plastaras specializes in Spine and Sports Medicine. His clinical interests are the non-surgical management of musculoskeletal conditions including spine related pain, shoulder/hip/knee/foot/ankle pain, and running injuries. His practice includes fluoroscopically guided interventional procedures treating peripheral joints, facet joints, epidurals, and radiofrequency ablation.

Education

• Chief Residency, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University Medical School / Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
• Residency, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University Medical School / Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
• Transitional Internship, Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA
• Doctor of Medicine Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
• Bachelor of Arts, Physics Emory University, Atlanta, GA

Board Certification

• Board Certified, Sports Medicine
• Board Certified, American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine
• Board Certified, American Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Journal Articles

• McLean JP, Sigler JD, Plastaras CT, Garvan CW, Rittenberg JD. The Rate of Detection of Intravascular Injection in Cervical Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injections With and Without Digital Subtraction Angiography. PM&R Journal. 1(7): 636-642, July 2009.
• Fasen J, O'Connor A, Schwartz S, Watson J, Plastaras C, Garvan C, Bulcao C, Johnson S, Akuthota V. A Randomized Controlled Trial of Hamstring Stretching: Comparison of Four Techniques. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 23(2):660-667, March 2009.
• Plastaras CT, Marciniak CM, Sipple DP, D'Amore KG, Garvan C, Zaman SM: Effect of interelectrode distance on sural nerve action potential parameters. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. 87(3):183-188, March 2008.
• Plastaras C, Heller D, Sorosky B, Houle T. “Pain reproduction during lumbosacral transforaminal epidural steroid injection does not affect outcome” Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, 19(2-3): 57 – 60, 2006.
• Plastaras C, Rittenberg, J, Rittenberg K, Press J, Akuthota V. “Comprehensive Functional Evaluation of the Injured Runner” Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America, 16(3): 623-649, August 2005.
• Slipman CW, Plastaras C, Patel R, Isaac Z, Chow D, Garvan C, Pauza K, Furman M "Provocative cervical discography symptom mapping" The Spine Journal, 5(4): 381-388, July-August 2005.
• Akuthota V, Plastaras C, Lindberg K, Tobey, J, Press J, Garvan C “The Effect of Long-Distance Bicycling on Ulnar and Median Nerves: An Electrophysiologic Evaluation of Cyclist Palsy” Accepted for publication in American Journal of Sports Medicine, 33(8), 2005.
• Sorosky B, Press J, Plastaras C, Rittenberg J “The Practical Management of Achilles Tendinopathy” Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, 14(1): 40-44, January 2004.
• Plastaras CT: "Electrodiagnostic Challenges in the Evaluation of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis".
• Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Clinics of North America 14:57-69, February 2003.
• Slipman CW, Lipetz JS, Jackson HB, Plastaras CT, Vresilovic EJ: “Outcomes of therapeutic selective nerve root blocks for whiplash induced cervical radicular pain” Pain Physician 4(2): 167-174, 2001.
• Slipman CW, Lipetz JS, Plastaras CT, Jackson HB, Vresilovic EJ, Lenrow DA, Braverman DL: “Fluoroscopically guided therapeutic sacroiliac joint injections for sacroiliac joint syndrome” American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 80(6): 425-32, 2001 June.
• Roth EJ, Plastaras CT, Mullin MS, Fillmore J, Moses ML: “A Simple Institutional Educational Intervention to Decrease Use of Selected Expensive Medications” Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 82 (5): 633-636, 2001 May.
• Slipman CW, Lipetz JS, Plastaras CT, Jackson HB, Yang ST, Meyer AM: "Therapeutic zygapophyseal joint injections for headaches emanating from the C2-3 joint." American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. 80(3): 182-188, 2001 March.
• Slipman CW, Plastaras CT, Palmitier RA, Huston CW, Sterenfeld EB: "Symptom Provocation of Fluoroscopically Guided Cervical Nerve Root Stimulation: Are Dynatomal Maps Identical to Dermatomal Maps?" Spine 23(20): 2235-42, 1998 Oct 15.

Book Chapters and Reviews

• Plastaras CT, Sowa G, Sorosky B. Lumbar Degenerative Disc in Slipman CW, Derby R, Simeone FA, et al. Interventional Spine: An Algorithmic Approach, Philadelphia, Saunders Elsevier, 813-826, 2008.
• Press JM, Plastaras CT, Wiesner SL. Physical Modalities and Pain Management in Rehabilitation of Sports Injuries. Frontera, W (ed), 204-231.
• Rittenberg J, Plastaras C. Invited Review on Radiation Safety for the Spine Provider, SpineLine 2006.