Massachusetts General Hospital

Biography

Dr. Brian Grottkau graduated from Harvard University Cum Laude in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1985, and he went on to earn his MD from Harvard Medical School in 1989. He completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program. Dr. Grottkau also completed fellowships in spine surgery and pediatric orthopaedics.

Dr. Grottkau came to Massachusetts General Hospital in 2002 and since has served as Chief of Pediatric Orthopaedics. He is an Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School and is involved with the Peabody Fellowship in Pediatric Orthopaedics. In those roles, he is actively involved in the teaching of medical students, residents and fellows. In addition, Dr. Grottkau is an instructor in the Advanced Practice Nursing Program at Boston College, supervising advanced practice nursing students in his clinic weekly.

Research

Dr. Grottkau's research interests are in three areas:

1. Pediatric trauma: Dr. Grottkau studies various aspects of pediatric trauma. He is researching the demographics, injuries sustained, residual disabilities and other aspects of children who have suffered falls.
2. Radiological evaluation of elbow fractures in children: Dr. Grottkau is researching this topic utilizing multidetector CT technology. He has published numerous articles about this topic.
3. Treatment of Legg-Calve-Perthes disease: Dr. Grottkau is researching this area, in conjunction with the Lab for Tissue Engineering at MGH, to develop an effective intervention in the treatment of this disease utilizing autogenous stem cells.

Publications

Select Publications:

Cai X, Zhang Y, Yang X, Grottkau BE, Lin Y. Uniaxial cyclic tensile stretch inhibits osteogenic and odontogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells. J Tissue Eng Regen Med. 2010 Sep 8.

Grottkau BE, Purudappa PP, Lin YF. Multilineage differentiation of dental pulp stem cells from green fluorescent protein transgenic mice. Int J Oral Sci. 2010 Mar;2(1):21-7.

Grottkau BE, Rebello G, Merlin G, Winograd JM. Coaptive film versus subcuticular suture: comparing skin closure time after posterior spinal instrumented fusion in pediatric patients with spinal deformity. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2010 Nov 1;35(23):2027-9.

Hart ES, Grottkau BE. Intraoperative neuromonitoring in pediatric spinal deformity surgery. Orthop Nurs. 2009 Nov-Dec;28(6):286-92.

Shannon EG, Hart ES, Grottkau BE. Clavicle fractures in children: the essentials. Orthop Nurs. 2009 Sep-Oct;28(5):210-4; quiz 215-6.

Hart ES, Metkar US, Rebello GN, Grottkau BE. Femoroacetabular impingement in adolescents and young adults. Orthop Nurs. 2009 May-Jun;28(3):117-24; quiz 125-6.

Mass General Hospital Physicians make “The List”

Boston Magazine recognizes 134 MGH physicians on its annual list of top doctors in the Boston area.