Dr. Carsen is a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon, a Mid-Career Clinician-Scientist, and the Director of Research for the Division of Orthopedics at CHEO. He is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Ottawa with an active academic and research career. His clinical practice is largely focused on sports medicine, knee and hip arthroscopy, and fracture care. His research portfolio includes multi-disciplinary collaborations, focusing on sports injuries of the knee; primarily ACLs, femoroacetabular impingement and hip morphology, as well as orthopedic trauma. He is the Principal Investigator on over 10 studies at CHEO and numerous more both nationally and internationally. Dr. Carsen is the CHEO RI’s Vice Chair of the Investigator Mentorship Program. He also a member of the RI’s Innovation Committee and Scientific and Advisory Leadership Team.
Areas of Research: Hip, Sports Medicine, Bone Health
Research Projects
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Quantifying voluntary knee strength deficits and muscular contribution to torque in an anterior cruciate ligament-injured adolescent population using a musculoskeletal model
01/04/2025
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury rates have been steadily rising in an adolescent population (Beck et al., 2017; Bram et al., 2021). Not only are the initial injury rates increasing but the rates of ACL re-injury are of concern, with 20 % to 40 % of adolescents experiencing another injury in the ipsilateral or contralateral limb within two years of the initial injury (Webster and Feller, 2016).
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The Otto Aufranc Award: Does Hip Arthroscopy at the Time of Periacetabular Osteotomy Improve the Clinical Outcome for the Treatment of Hip Dysplasia? A Multi-Center Randomized Clinical Trial
10/05/2024
This randomized controlled trial examined whether adding hip arthroscopy to periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) improves clinical outcomes for patients with symptomatic hip dysplasia. While all patients experienced significant functional improvement after surgery, there were no meaningful differences in patient‑reported outcomes at one year between those who underwent PAO alone and those who received concurrent arthroscopy. The findings suggest that routine arthroscopy at the time of PAO does not provide added short‑term clinical benefit, though longer‑term follow‑up is needed to assess potential differences over time.
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How Is Variability in Femoral and Acetabular Version Associated With Presentation Among Young Adults With Hip Pain?
07/05/2024
This study examined how acetabular and femoral version vary in patients undergoing hip preservation surgery and how different femoral version measurement techniques may influence clinical interpretation. The authors found substantial variability in femoral version—nearly twice that of acetabular version—and significant differences between commonly used measurement methods, which can alter what is considered “normal.” These findings highlight the need for standardized measurement approaches, as inconsistent definitions may affect clinical decision‑making and treatment recommendations.
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How Is Variability in Femoral and Acetabular Version Associated With Presentation Among Young Adults With Hip Pain?
07/05/2024
Based on the central acetabular version and femoral version as measured by Murphy, hips were grouped according to their rotational profile into four groups: unstable rotational profile: high (high acetabular version with high femoral version) or moderate (high acetabular version with normal femoral version or normal acetabular version with high femoral version); normal rotational profile (normal acetabular version with femoral version); compensatory rotational profile (low acetabular version with high femoral version or high acetabular version with low femoral version); and impingement rotational profile (low acetabular version with low femoral version): high (low acetabular version with low femoral version) or moderate (low acetabular version with normal femoral version or normal acetabular version with low femoral version). Radiographic assessments were manually performed on digitized images by two orthopaedic residents, and 25% of randomly selected measurements were repeated by the senior author, a fellowship-trained hip preservation and arthroplasty surgeon. Interobserver and intraobserver reliabilities were calculated using the correlation coefficient with a two-way mixed model, showing excellent agreement for Murphy technique measurements (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.908 [95% confidence interval 0.80 to 0.97]) and Reikerås technique measurements (ICC 0.938 [95% CI 0.81 to 0.97]). Patient-reported measures were recorded using the International Hip Outcome Tool (iHOT-33) (0 to 100; worse to best).
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Rehabilitation and return to play following hip arthroscopy in young athletes
01/05/2024
Hip arthroscopy is a hip preservation surgery used to manage acute pain and injury while attempting to preserve the hip joint and prevent or delay the progression of degenerative changes by restoring stability, reducing pathologic stress and instability, and preventing continued joint incongruity and impingement. Research supports a high likelihood of return to a prior level of athletic participation in athletes of all ages after hip arthroscopy with especially favorable results in athletes under the age of 18. The postoperative rehabilitation process is vital to correct impairments and compensatory strategies. Unfortunately, there is great variability in current rehabilitation protocols. Adolescent athletes returning to activity after hip arthroscopy may be at an increased risk of reinjury and continued pain if return to sport occurs too early. Inconsistencies exist with current protocols and return to sport testing. For instance, assessing readiness for return to sport is often based upon tests and measures utilized for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. These tests and measures may not effectively isolate or address hip function and readiness to return to play after hip arthroscopy. This current concept review presents existing literature and a standardized rehabilitation process to restore normal function and maximize a safe return to athletics after hip arthroscopy in the young athlete.