December 14, 2021
Meet Charles Hannon, MD, MBA
Hip and Knee Surgeon
Dr. Hannon specializes in hip and knee replacements with particular interest in rapid recovery protocols, robotic-assisted joint replacement and complex primary and revision hip and knee replacements. Dr. Hannon focuses on individualizing treatment to each patient to provide the best possible care and outcomes for his patients.
Where are you from?
I am originally from New York City and then grew up in Darien, Connecticut.
What made you choose orthopedics as a specialty?
I was actually born with a right club foot. I had seven surgeries as a child and my orthopedic surgeon was my hero. Dr. Jay, as he was called by his patients, practiced at A.I. DuPont (now called Nemours Children’s Hospital) in Wilmington Delaware. As a kid I would see him three to four times per year, and I even talked about wanting to be like Dr. Jay when I grew up. Every time he walked in the room he would look at my mom and dad and nod his head, but the first person he spoke to was me. Before talking about my foot he always asked me how school was going, how were my grades, how my friends were and how sports were going. He was truly treating me as a person and just happened to operate on my foot. I had the honor of shadowing him in college and what made him so special was how he treated every single child the same way.
What brought you to Washington University Orthopedics? How long have you been with Washington University?
Washington University Orthopedics offers the unique opportunity to have a busy clinical practice, educate outstanding young surgeons, and advance the field through innovative research. There are few institutions that are able to excel in all three of these shields. What really set WashU Orthopedics apart, though, was the fantastic faculty, staff, residents and fellows. I am thrilled and honored to be able to be able to start my career here at WashU
What aspect of your practice do you find most interesting or rewarding?
The most interesting and rewarding part of my practice is getting to know my patients. I love learning about their backstory, their family and their activities.
Are you working on any interesting clinical trials or studies right now?
A major focus of my research is multimodal anesthesia and analagesia in joint replacement. I had the privilege of working with the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) on the development of the clinical practice guideline on aneshtesia and analgesia in joint replacement. Through that experience, we learned more about what we do not know than what we do. We are collaborating with several other centers on small-scaled randomized controlled trials on different parts of the multimodal pathway, and we hope to continue to improve the care we provide our patients.
What’s on the horizon for recon patient care? What are you excited about?
Across all of orthopedics, technology has started to really influence not only the care we provide patients in the office, but also in the operating room. In joint replacement, there is now computer navigation, robotically-assisted surgery, and virtual reality, among other technologies. It’s a really exciting time because we are able to study these technologies at WashU and learn who they would be best for and how we can best use them to improve the care of our patients.
What’s the best advice you ever received and who/what was it from?
The best advice I ever received was from my parents. They told me to treat everyone the way you want to be treated. I love going to work every day, not just because I have the honor and privilege of taking care of patients, but even more so because of the fantastic people I work with. Everyone from the cleaning staff, to the greeters, parking staff, administrative assistants, fellows, residents, OR assistants, nurses and beyond are integral to our team and the care we provide our patients. It’s so important to treat everyone well, as the whole team is the true backbone behind WashU Orthopedics. It also makes coming to work so enjoyable!
What’s your favorite thing to do outside of work?
I love spending time with my family! My beautiful wife, Christina, our young son, John, and I have really enjoyed St. Louis and love exploring the fantastic activities there are for kids all throughout the city. We are big sports fans, too, and love cheering on our sports teams, especially our alma mater Villanova University basketball team!
Dr. Hannon treats patients at the Center for Advanced Medicine and Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital. Learn more about Dr. Hannon and why patients choose Washington University Orthopedics.