Sports medicine & joint preservation in Honolulu: fix the injury, protect the joint

Dr. Morton's sports program covers the knee and hip injuries island athletes actually get: ACL tears, meniscus tears, cartilage defects, tendon problems, and fractures. The difference is the long view: repair tissue rather than remove it, use PRP and BMAC only where evidence supports them, and gate return to sport with testing. The plan starts with the least invasive option that will work.

Sports injuries have two costs: the season you lose now, and the arthritis you might buy later. A trimmed-away meniscus, an unstable ACL-deficient knee, a cartilage lesion left to grind — each quietly raises the odds you'll need a joint replacement decades early. Dr. Morton's practice is built around that long view: he's a fellowship-trained reconstruction surgeon who would rather preserve the joint you were born with than replace it — and who knows exactly what un-preserved joints look like twenty years later.

Most sore knees and hips settle with a few days of rest. Some don't — and the ones that don't get more expensive to fix the longer they wait: a repairable meniscus frays, a locked knee grinds cartilage, and ACL repair with the BEAR® implant is only possible within 50 days of injury. See us promptly if:

The program covers the knee and hip injuries island athletes actually get. Each line has its own in-depth guide:

ACL tears. Anatomic all-inside reconstruction with every graft option, BEAR® repair for select tears seen within 50 days, meniscus preserved at the same operation, and objective return-to-sport testing. The sideline-to-surgeon story is in ACL injuries in sports.

Meniscus tears. Repair-first — sutured whenever the blood supply allows, trimmed conservatively when it doesn't, and left alone when a degenerative tear in an arthritic knee won't benefit from a scope. PRP-augmented repair is available for borderline cases.

Cartilage injuries. The full restoration ladder for focal defects — arthroscopic debridement, microfracture, OATS, osteochondral allograft, MACI (Dr. Morton was the first surgeon in Hawai‘i to perform it arthroscopically), and the CartiHeal Agili-C scaffold, including selected knees with early arthritis.

Tendon and ligament problems. From patellar tendinopathy to MCL sprains — rehab, bracing, and biologics before anyone mentions surgery.

Fractures and acute trauma. AO trauma-fellowship-trained care, from the walk-in clinic to The Queen's Medical Center.

Post-injury arthritis risk. Monitored, not ignored — why it matters and what lowers it after an ACL tear.

Between "rest it" and "operate" sits a deep bench of options: structured rehab plans with PB&J Physical Therapy, targeted injections, PRP for tendinopathy and early arthritis, BMAC for heavier biologic work, and iovera° cryoneurolysis for nerve-driven knee pain. Biologics are framed honestly: they can calm inflammation, support a healing repair, and buy time in early cartilage disease — but no injection regrows a full-thickness cartilage defect or stabilizes a torn ACL, and most insurers don't cover PRP, so it's offered as transparent cash-pay with the price known before you decide. When surgery is the right call, it's outpatient, arthroscopic where possible, and designed to preserve tissue. The orthobiologics program explains the biologic options in depth — including when they're not worth your money.

The unglamorous stuff prevents most visits to our office:

Acute injuries are prioritized. Book a consultation online or call (808) 439-6201; Dr. Morton sees patients at four clinics — Honolulu (Ala Moana), West O‘ahu (Kunia), Hilo, and Kona. On the Leeward side, Wiki Wiki Orthopedics — the practice's walk-in orthopedic urgent care in the Kunia Shopping Center — handles same-week X-rays, fracture care, and injury triage without an ER visit, and escalates directly to Dr. Morton when needed.

What to bring: a photo ID, your insurance card, and any prior X-rays, MRI, or reports. Managed-care and Medicaid/Quest plans may require a referral from your primary care physician; the office checks before your visit. Neighbor island and traveling athletes can begin by telehealth with local imaging when an in-person visit isn't practical, with surgery on a planned O‘ahu trip and rehab coordinated near home. You'll leave the first visit with a diagnosis and a plan that protects the joint's future — read what patients say in Dr. Morton's reviews.