About

Charles L. Nelson, M.D., is a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He serves as an Attending Orthopaedic Surgeon at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Nelson is the Chief of the Adult Reconstruction Section within the University of Pennsylvania Health System and also holds the position of Diversity Officer in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. His educational background includes a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute obtained in 1988 and an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania completed in 1992. His professional focus encompasses orthopedic surgery with a specialization in adult reconstruction, and he has contributed to the field through various publications related to hip and knee arthroplasty, periprosthetic fractures, and management of complex cases in joint replacement.

Research topics

• Pathology
• Medicine
• Chemistry
• Pharmacology
• Biochemistry
• Cancer research
• Anatomy

Selected publications

• Dislocation Risk in Modern Total Hip Arthroplasty: Comparing Surgical Approaches With and Without Enabling Technology

  The Journal of Arthroplasty · 2026-04-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Development and Validation of Case‐Finding Algorithms to Identify Periprosthetic Joint Infections After Total Hip Arthroplasty in Veterans Health Administration Data

  Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen access

  PURPOSE: To determine the positive predictive values (PPVs) of ICD-9- and ICD-10-based diagnostic coding algorithms to identify periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) following total hip arthroplasty (THA) within the United States (US) Veterans Health Administration (VHA). METHODS: We selected patients with: (1) any position hospital discharge ICD-9 or ICD-10 diagnosis of PJI, (2) ICD-9, ICD-10, or current procedural terminology (CPT) procedure codes for THA any time prior to PJI diagnosis, (3) CPT code for hip X-ray within ±90 days of the PJI diagnosis, and (4) 1 or more CPT codes for arthrocentesis, arthrotomy, or revision arthroplasty all occurring within ±90 days of the PJI diagnosis date. We obtained separate samples of patients for ICD-9 and ICD-10-based PJI diagnoses. These samples were stratified by THA medical center volume. Infectious disease physicians adjudicated each identified PJI event. The PPV (95% confidence interval [CI]) for the ICD-9 and ICD-10 PJI algorithms were calculated. RESULTS: Among the 90 sampled hip PJI events for the ICD-9 era, 79 were confirmed PJIs (PPV 87.8%, 95% CI 79.2%-93.7%). For the 90 sampled hip PJI events for the ICD-10 era, 72 were confirmed PJIs (PPV 80.0%, 95% CI 70.3%-87.7%). CONCLUSION: These algorithms yielded a PPV of 87.8% (ICD-9) and 80.0% (ICD-10), for confirmed PJI events and could be considered for use in future pharmacoepidemiologic studies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• An Updated Demographic Profile of Orthopaedic Surgery Using a New ABOS Data Set

  JBJS Open Access · 2025-01-01 · 7 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  Introduction: The orthopaedic surgery physician workforce is predominately White and male and has been identified as the least diverse medical specialty. Increasing efforts toward diversification within orthopaedic surgery are underway. Evaluating the effectiveness of these programs requires a thorough understanding of the current demographic profile of the profession. Methods: The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) is the leading board certification organization for orthopaedic surgeons in the United States. The ABOS began collecting self-reported race/ethnicity and sex/gender data of its examinees and diplomates in 2017. This new data set of ABOS was analyzed to describe both the current demographic profile of orthopaedic surgery and trends over time. Underrepresented minority (URM) was defined as a group that is less well represented in orthopaedic surgery than in US census data and includes female, American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander categories. Results: Of the 21,025 currently practicing ABOS diplomates with time-limited ABOS certificates (issued since 1986), 19,912 (94.7%) provided sex/gender data, and 19,876 (94.5%) provided race/ethnicity data. Approximately 84.78% selected male and 8.43% female. The majority identified as White (73.67%), whereas 16.35% selected a URM race/ethnicity category. There have been significant increases in the proportions of female (odds ratio [OR] = 4.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.64-6.11, p < 0.001) and URM (OR = 2.31, 95% CI = 1.80-2.96, p < 0.0001). Diplomates among orthopaedic surgeons attaining ABOS board Diplomates from 1989 to present. Among the subspecialties, pediatric orthopaedics reported the highest percentage of females (30.4%). Spine had both the lowest percentage of females (2.63%) and the highest percentage of URMs (8.97%). Sports had the lowest percentage of URMs at 5.63%. Conclusion: Orthopaedic surgery in 2023 remains largely White and male. However, there have been promising trends toward diversification of orthopaedic surgery both in terms of gender and race/ethnicity. Specialties within orthopaedics have a wide variety of demographic profiles. Level of Evidence: Level IV Retrospective Cohort Study. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

  PublisherDOI

• Cupping therapy for fibromyalgia: A scoping review of proposed mechanisms

  Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies · 2025-11-24

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Working to Mitigate Bias in ABOS Board Certification and Recertification

  Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery · 2025-09-17

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Defining Benchmarks for Case Minimums During Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–Accredited Total Joint Arthroplasty Fellowship Training

  The Journal of Arthroplasty · 2025-06-18

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Development and validation of case-finding algorithms to identify periprosthetic joint infections after total hip arthroplasty in Veterans Health Administration data

  2025-08-27

  articleOpen access

  Purpose: To determine the positive predictive values (PPVs) of ICD-9 and ICD-10-based diagnostic coding algorithms to identify periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) following total hip arthroplasty (THA) within the United States (US) Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Methods: We selected patients with: (1) any position hospital discharge ICD-9 or ICD-10 diagnosis of PJI, (2) ICD-9, ICD-10, or Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) procedure codes for THA any time prior to PJI diagnosis, (3) CPT code for hip X-ray within ±90 days of the PJI diagnosis, and (4) 1 or more CPT codes for arthrocentesis, arthrotomy, or revision arthroplasty all occurring within ±90 days of the PJI diagnosis date. We obtained separate samples of patients for ICD-9 and ICD-10-based PJI diagnoses. These samples were stratified by THA medical center volume. Infectious disease physicians adjudicated each identified PJI event. The PPV (95% confidence interval [CI]) for the ICD-9 and ICD-10 PJI algorithms were calculated. Results: Among the 90 sampled hip PJI events for the ICD-9 era, 79 were confirmed PJIs (PPV, 87.8%; 95% CI, 79.2%-93.7%). For the 90 sampled hip PJI events for the ICD-10 era, 72 were confirmed PJIs (PPV, 80.0%; 95% CI, 70.3%-87.7%). Conclusion: These algorithms yielded a PPV of 87.8% (ICD-9) and 80.0% (ICD-10), for confirmed PJI events and could be considered for use in future pharmacoepidemiologic studies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty Performed in 2022 to 2023 by American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Certification and Recertification Candidates: Increased Use of Medial Congruent Prostheses and Robotics Among Primary Certification Applicants

  The Journal of Arthroplasty · 2025-07-07 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Higher Pulmonary Embolism Risk in Morbidly Obese Patients on Aspirin Monotherapy after Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Claims Database Analysis

  The Journal of Arthroplasty · 2025-03-23 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Development and validation of case-finding algorithms to identify periprosthetic joint infections after total hip arthroplasty in Veterans Health Administration data

  2025-03-08

  preprintOpen access

  not-yet-known not-yet-known not-yet-known unknown Purpose: To determine the positive predictive values (PPVs) of ICD-9 and ICD-10-based diagnostic coding algorithms to identify periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) following total hip arthroplasty (THA) within the United States (US) Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Methods: We selected patients with: (1) any position hospital discharge ICD-9 or ICD-10 diagnosis of PJI, (2) ICD-9, ICD-10, or Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) procedure codes for THA any time prior to PJI diagnosis, (3) CPT code for hip X-ray within ±90 days of the PJI diagnosis, and (4) 1 or more CPT codes for arthrocentesis, arthrotomy, or revision arthroplasty all occurring within ±90 days of the PJI diagnosis date. We obtained separate samples of patients for ICD-9 and ICD-10-based PJI diagnoses. These samples were stratified by THA medical center volume. Infectious disease physicians adjudicated each identified PJI event. The PPV (95% confidence interval [CI]) for the ICD-9 and ICD-10 PJI algorithms were calculated. Results: Among the 90 sampled hip PJI events for the ICD-9 era, 79 were confirmed PJIs (PPV, 87.8%; 95% CI, 79.2%-93.7%). For the 90 sampled hip PJI events for the ICD-10 era, 72 were confirmed PJIs (PPV, 80.0%; 95% CI, 70.3%-87.7%). Conclusion: These algorithms yielded a PPV of 87.8% (ICD-9) and 80.0% (ICD-10), for confirmed PJI events and could be considered for use in future pharmacoepidemiologic studies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Craig L. Israelite

  Pennsylvania Hospital

  53 shared

• Jason Silvestre

  Medical University of South Carolina

  44 shared

• Atul F. Kamath

  32 shared

• Neil P. Sheth

  University of Pennsylvania Health System

  32 shared

• Jonathan P. Garino

  22 shared

• Steven B. Haas

  Hospital for Special Surgery

  21 shared

• A. Michael Sadove

  18 shared

• Dawn M. LaPorte

  Johns Hopkins University

  18 shared

Education

• Residency, Orthopaedic Surgery

  Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

  1997

• MD

  University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

  1992