News

Awards & News

• February 11, 2021 … Castle Connolly Medical, Ltd., America’s trusted source for identifying Top Doctors, has selected Rockford’s Hand Surgery specialists Dr. Brian Bear and Dr. Brian Foster, and Orthopedic Sports Medicine specialist Dr. Scott Trenhaile of OrthoIllinois for inclusion in its highly selective list of Castle Connolly Top Doctors for 2021. Only four to five percent of doctors in America earn this prestigious honor.
  Castle Connolly Top DoctorsR are selected by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. after being nominated by peer physicians in an online nomination process. Nominations are open to all board certified MDs and DOs. Honorees are selected from the nominees by the Castle Connolly physician-led research team based on criteria including their medical education, training, hospital appointments, disciplinary histories and more.
• October 26, 2020 – Dr. Brian Bear, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon at OrthoIllinois, will participate in a national research initiative for Dupuytren’s disease, a type of hand deformity.  Full release.
• March 3, 2020 … Dr. Bear named to Castle Connolly Top Doctors for 2020
• October 30, 2018 … Rolando Izquierdo, Jr., MD, Brian Bear, MD, Marie Rivers, PA-C, and Rebecca Cheski, ATC served as four of six co-authors of a research study recently published in the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Arthroplasty titled, “Detritic Synovitis With Osteolysis Leading to Pathologic Fracture and Deltoid Avulsion Following Total Shoulder Arthroplasty.”  Full release.
• August 6, 2018 – As an Alumnus of the Hospital for Special Surgery’s orthopedic residency program in New York City, Dr. Bear is pleased to share the program has been rated #1 for the fourth consecutive year in the annual reputation survey conducted by Doximity.  The 2018-19 result was informed by more than 315,000 peer nominations, ratings, and hand-written reviews.  Doximity is an online social media networking service for over one million U.S. clinicians – over 70% of U.S. physicians are members.
• April 2018 – Dr. Bear one of six co-authors of research paper accepted for publication in the April 2018, Volume 43, Issue 4 of the Journal of Hand Surgery.  The scientific article, titled “Arthroscopic Partial Trapeziectomy With Soft Tissue Interposition for Symptomatic Trapexoimetacarpal Arthritis: 6-Month and 5-Year Minimum Follow-Up” can be read in full here.
• Mar. 28, 2016 – Dr. Bear selected for inclusion in the highly selective list of Castle Connolly Top Doctors for the fifth year in a row.  Only four to five percent of doctors in America earn this prestigious honor.
• Feb. 6, 2018 – Dr. Bear and colleagues Brian Foster, MD, Kenneth Korcek, MD, and Edric Schwartz, MD co-author research article accepted for publication in the March edition of Journal of Hand Surgery.  The article, titled “A Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial of Splinting after Mini-Open Carpal Tunnel Release,” details a recent study by the physicians  – the largest and most accurate study of its kind – and concludes in support of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons guide indicating no benefit of splinting after carpal tunnel release.  The Journal of Hand Surgery is the official journal for sharing research studies and new technologies of The American Society for Surgery of the Hand.  This is the third research paper authored by Dr. Bear accepted for publication in Journal of Hand Surgery in twelve months.
• Dr. Bear authors article to be published in prestigious Journal of Hand Surgery
• Dr. Bear named Top Doctor 2017
• Dr. Bear named Top Doctor 2015 and 2016
• Dr. Bear named Top Doctor 2014
• Brian Bear, MD Selected to Instruct Peers at Wrist and Elbow Surgery Course
• Local Surgeon to Teach Wrist and Elbow Surgical Skills at AAOS Training Course
• Brian Bear, MD presents study at Arthroscopy Association of North America annual meeting in April 2013
• Brian Bear, MD presents clinical study on thumb arthritis
• Brian Bear, MD to serve on Editorial Board of Operative Techniques in Sports Medicine Journal
• Dupuytren’s contracture study in which the results proved very positive for participating patients
• Brian Bear, MD instructs peers at AAOS and ASSH on advanced techniques

Publications & Presentations

• American Association of Hand Surgeons: Annual Meeting, Paper
  Presentation: Arthroscopic Partial Trapeziodectomy with Soft Tissue
  Interposition for Symptomatic Trapezoidmetacarpal Arthritis. Naples, FL
  July 2013
• Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting:
  Arthroscopic Partial Trapezoidectomy with Soft Tissue Interposition for
  Symptomatic Trapezoidmetacarpal Arthritis. San Antonio, TX. April
  2013
• Instructor AAOS/ASES Elbow Reconstruction: Arthroscopy,
  Instability, Fracture and Arthroplasty, October 2012
• Clinical Orthopedic Society Annual Meeting: Arthroscopic Partial
  Trapeziodectomy with Soft Tissue Interposition for Symptomatic
  Trapezoidmetacarpal Arthritis. Chicago, IL 2012
• Presentation: Elbow Instability, Physical Therapy Power hour April
  2012
• Presentation: Elbow Instability, Physical Therapy Power hour April
  2012
• Instructor ASSH/AAOS Essential Arthroscopic Skills, July 29-30,
  2011, Rosemont, IL
• Presentor ASSH Annual Meeting Healthcare Legislation Update:
  Obamacare and Beyond, September 8-10, Las Vegas, NV
• Instructor ASSH 2011 Advanced Techniques in Reconstructive Elbow
  Surgery, July 2011
• Boston, MAInstructor AAOS Distal Radial Fractures and Wrist
  Fracture Dislocation, June 24-26, 2011, Rosemont, IL
• Instructor AAOS Wrist Injuries: State of the Art: External Fixation
  of the Distal Radius, April 2011, Rosemont, IL
• Instructor AAOS Wrist Injuries: State of the Art: External Fixation
  of the Distal Radius, April 2011, Rosemont, IL
• Presentor ASSH Annual Meeting Hand Fracture Dislocations, October
  7-9, 2010,
• Instructor: ASSH Instructional Course Lecture #017: Fractures of
  the Hand, September 2010, Boston, MA
• Presentation: Distal Bicep Tendon Repair; AAOS/ASES Meeting,
  October 2010, Rosemont, IL
• Live Presentation Physical Therapy Power hour: Cadaver Dissection:
  A Demonstration of UE Surgical Techniques, University of IL College of
  Medicine-Rockford, Rockford, IL April 2010
• Presentation: The Mangled Hand, 1st Annual Orthopedic Trauma
  Symposium, Rockford, IL November 2009
• Instructor ASSH/AAOS Advanced Techniques in Reconstructive Elbow
  Surgery, June 2009, Rosemont, IL
• Instructor AAOS/ASE Open and Arthroscopic Techniques in Shoulder
  Surgery #3314, May 2009, Rosemont, IL
• Presentation: What’s New In Upper Extremity Surgery; OSF Saint
  Anthony Medical Center May Day Conference, May 2009, Rockford, IL
• Emergency Room Management; Common Hand Problems, March 2009,
  Association of Occupational Medicine Physicians, Lyle, IL
• Instructor AAOS Elbow Reconstruction: Arthroscopy, Instability and
  Arthroplasty #3213, December 2008, Rosemont, IL
• Saleh KJ; Bear B; Bostrom M; Wright T; Sculco TP. Initial Stability
  of Press Fit Acetabular components: A Biomechanical Study. Am J Orthop.
  2008 Oct. 37 (10) 519- 22:
• Instructor ASSH/AAOS Wrist and Elbow Arthroscopic Techniques and
  Innovations, August 2008, Rosemont, IL
• Presentation: Anatomy of the Wrist Ligaments: AAOS Wrist and Elbow
  Arthroscopy: Techniques and Innovations, Rosemont, IL August 2008
• Presentation: Perilunate Injuries: AAOS Wrist and Elbow
  Arthroscopy: Techniques and Innovations, Rosemont, IL August 2008
• Presentation: Carpe Diem Hand Club Meeting: Lateral Ulnar
  Collateral Ligament Repair in the Unstable Elbow Fracture Dislocation,
  July 2008, Snowmass, CO
• Instructor AAOS Current Options in the Treatment of Wrist Injuries
  #3205, May 2008, Rosemont, IL
• Instructor AAES/AAOS Shoulder and Elbow Course, January 2007,
  Rosemont,IL
• Total Hip Arthroplasty Cost Issues: Bowman Gray School of Medicine
  Total Hip and Total Knee Arthroplasty 1994 Update Bowman Gray School of
  Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC.
• Instructor ASSH/AAOS Wrist and Elbow Arthroscopic Techniques and
  Innovations, June 2006, Rosemont, IL
• Instructor AAOS/ASES Open Arthroscopic Techniques in Shoulder
  Surgery, January 2006, Rosemont, IL
• Instructor AAOS/ASES Open Arthroscopic Techniques in Shoulder
  Surgery, January 2006, Rosemont, IL
• Instructor AAOA/ASES Open and Arthroscopic Techniques in Shoulder
  Surgery, April 2005, Rosemont, IL
• Instructor AAOS/ASES Surgical Techniques and Management of Shoulder
  & Elbow, January 2005, Rosemont, IL
• Presentation: Partial Wrist Denervation for Treatment of Chronic
  Wrist Pain. Carpe Diem Hand Club, Half Moon Bay, CA 2005
• Instructor AAOS Shoulder and Elbow Arthroscopy Course, January
  2004, Rosemont, IL
• Presentation: Interferential Electrical Stimulator for the
  Treatment of Lateral Epicondylitis: Presented Carpe Diem Hand Club,
  Jackson Hole, WY 2004
• Presentation: Importance of Dorsal Radiocarpal Ligament in Wrist
  Exposure. Carpe Diem Hand Club, Nantucket, MA 2003
• Instructor Advanced Shoulder and Elbow Course, October 30-Nov. 1,
  2003, Rosemont, IL
• Instructor Advanced Arthroscopic & Open Shoulder Surgery
  #3414,July 2002, Rosemont, IL
• Chicoye SJ, Bear BJ, Midtling JE: Orthopedics In Rakel RE(ed):
  Textbook of Family Practice, 6th ed. Philadelphia, WB Saunders 2002, pp
  891-949.
• Biomechanics of the Dorsal Intercarpal and Dorsal Radiocarpal
  Ligaments: Presented Chicago Hand Society, 2001
• Instructor AAOS Open and Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery: Advanced
  Anterior and Posterior Techniques, May 15-17, 1998, Rosemont, IL
• Initial Stability of Press Fit Acetabular Components; Bear, B.,
  Bostrom, M.; Sculco, T.; Eastern Orthopedic Association, Hilton Head
  Island, North Carolina 1996; AAOS, San Francisco, California 1997.
• Bear, B.J., Laskin, R.: Dissociation of a Nonmodular, Cemented,
  Metal-backed Acetabular Component. Orthopedics. 20(12); 1179-80,1997
  Dec.
• Yang, S.S., Williams, R., Bear, B.J.: Leiomyoma of the Hand in a
  Child Who Has the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Journal of Bone &
  Joint Surgery – American Volume. 78(12); 1904-6, 1996 Dec.
• Relationship of Age to Hospital Cost and Reimbursement for Primary
  Unilateral Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Two-year Comparative Study: Bear,
  B.J., Evanas, B., Salvati, E.: Presented American Academy of
  Orthopaedic Surgeons, Orlando Florida 1995. Orthopaedic Transactions
  1995.
• Yang, S.S., Bear, B.J., Weiland, A.J.: Rupture of the Flexor
  Pollicis Longus Tendon after 30 Years by a Retained Foreign Body. JHS
  20B: 6; 803-805, 1995.
• Fareed, D.O., Bear, B.J.: Microscopic Decompression of the
  Suprascapular Nerve: A New Musculoskeletal Sparing Approach. J. Orthop.
  Tech. Vol 2, #2 June 1994, pp. 69-75