Dr. Steven Thornton is recognized as a leader in the age of minimally invasive surgery. His expertise includes arthroscopic and reconstructive surgery of the shoulder, knee, and elbow, with an emphasis on advanced arthroscopic techniques.
While attending the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Dr. Thornton was elected to the AOA National Honor Society and was awarded the Donald Imrie Award for Most Outstanding Performance in Orthopaedic Surgery. After completing his orthopedic surgery residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dr. Thornton was awarded the prestigious sports medicine knee and shoulder fellowship at Cornell University’s Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
Dr. Thornton has authored and co-authored scientific articles and book chapters on various sports-related topics ranging from elbow ligament reconstruction in throwing athletes to total shoulder arthroplasty and ACL reconstruction. He has presented this information at meetings nationally. In addition, he is a reviewer for the Journal of Arthroscopy and serves as Clinical Assistant Professor at Southwestern Medical Center.
Throughout his career, Dr. Thornton has continued to advance the field of sports medicine and minimally invasive techniques. He recently participated as a design surgeon to develop a new system for an arthroscopic-assisted partial knee replacement, which was released for use in 2009. Dr. Thornton is actively affiliated with Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas and Texas Institute for Surgery. He is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Orthopaedic Society of Sports Medicine, the Texas Orthopaedic Association, and numerous other professional organizations.
Dr. Thornton wants his patients to know that he considers communication to be one of the most important parts of medical care. Decisions related to each patient are always made “with” the patient rather than “for” the patient.