“We are extremely pleased to announce that Dr. Lorio has joined our practice,” Dr. Scott Katzman, AOPM’s practice leader said. “Internationally recognized for his surgical expertise and patient advocacy, Dr. Lorio, broadens AOPM’s patient-centered approach to surgery with his surgical expertise in orthopedic, spine and micro-surgery.”

Dr. Lorio earned his medical degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in 1988 and completed a residency at SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine, and completed fellowships in hand and microsurgery, and spinal surgery also in Buffalo.

He has been in practice for more than 30 years and has been a spine, orthopedic, and hand surgeon. He recently relocated from the Hughston Clinic in Nashville, TN. He is board certified in all three specialties.

Over that time, Dr. Lorio has become a policy expert and advocate for spinal patients in part due to his own experience with spinal injury. Following a fall from a 35-foot scaffolding in 1982 he suffered from spinal pain until he underwent an intertransverse facet fusion with Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (PLIF) interbody in 2005. Following the procedure, he no longer needs medication or a back brace and has resumed his active life including, hunting, hiking, travel and performing spinal, orthopedic and hand surgery.

“The future of spine is a boutique approach to spinal injury that utilizes minimally invasive surgery coupled with emerging spinal technology that is tailored to each patient’s unique needs,” 

said Dr. Morgan Lorio.

Dr. Lorio is licensed to practice in five states and is a fellow member of the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, American College of Spine Surgery, the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery, the North American Spine Society and the Orthopedic Trauma Association. (He has served as the official spokesperson for the Spine Health Foundation spearheading a project that provided spine care, including fusion, to those uninsured or under insured in Tennessee.

His special interests include the pathology of cervical spine conditions affecting upper extremities, artificial discs, motion preservation, sacroiliac joint disease, vertebral augmentation and minimally invasive spinal surgery. He, as Chair for the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS) Task Force for Coding and Reimbursement, has recently shepherded the treatment recommendations for vertebral augmentation and bone graft substitutes; this was recognized recently in a Becker’s Interview with Dr. Morgan Lorio on the ISASS release on bone graft substitutes and vertebral augmentation.

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