Kurt Spindler MD
Orthopedic Sports Medicine
Associate Chief, Clinical Research Professor Orthopaedics CCLCM Cleveland Clinic
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Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine5555 Transportation BLVDGarfield Heights, OH 44125
Phone+1 877-440-8326
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Summary
- Dr. Spindler is the Associate Chief, Clinical Research for the entire Cleveland Clinic organization. In this role, he is dedicated to the development, implementation, oversight, and optimization of clinical research enterprise wide (Ohio, Florida, London, Abi Dhabi). In addition to having maintained a clinical and surgical practice in orthopaedic sports medicine, he has also been a D1 team physician, an educator, professor, and mentor to clinician scientists and clinician scholars across all fields of medicine. He has been an NIH funded researcher since 2006 with multiple competitively funded grants. He is an active reviewer for the NIH and has served as a permanent member of two NIH study sections. Additionally, Dr. Spindler has led the development of a scientifically valid, cost-effective, and scalable clinical outcome tracking system called OME. This prospective patient-reported outcomes capture system helped transform clinical research, as well as clinical practice. Dr. Spindler helped develop Cleveland Clinic as a leader in Clinical Outcomes (OME), Multicenter Studies (MOON and BEAR MOON), and Musculoskeletal Research. Finally, Dr. Spindler has been and continues to be an active member and leader in regional, national, and international orthopaedic and sports medicine professional organizations. In 2022, he was appointed the 50th President of AOSSM. He recently served as co-chairman of the ORS/OREF/AAOS CSCDP and co-chair of the PROMs Taskforce for AAOS. He has published over 325 peer-reviewed publications and presented over 700 talks principally on clinical outcomes, evidence-based medicine, and knee ligament healing. Dr. Spindler received the Kappa Delta award in 2012, 2019 and the AOSSM O’ Donahue award in 2001, 2014, 2017.
His clinical expertise includes evaluation and treatment of all sports medicine injuries and being a team physician. His surgical focus is on arthroscopic knee surgery, especially ACL reconstruction.
Education & Training
Cleveland Clinic FoundationFellowship, Orthopaedic Sports Medicine, 1990 - 1991
University of Pennsylvania Health SystemResidency, Orthopaedic Surgery, 1985 - 1990
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of PennsylvaniaClass of 1985
Rutgers CollegeB.A., Biology, 1981
Certifications & Licensure
OH State Medical License 1990 - 2028
FL State Medical License 2021 - 2027
TN State Medical License 1991 - 2021
KY State Medical License 2001 - 2015
PA State Medical License 1987 - 1990
American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Orthopaedic Surgery- American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Orthopaedic Sports Medicine
Awards, Honors, & Recognition
- America's Top Doctors Castle Connolly, 2005-2021
- CMS Meaningful Use Stage 2 Certification Beacon Oncology 2014 Certified Module, Epic Systems Corporation, 2014, 2016-2017
- CMS Meaningful Use Stage 2 Certification EpicCare Ambulatory 2014 Certified EHR Suite, Epic Systems Corporation, 2014, 2016-2017
Clinical Trials
Publications & Presentations
PubMed
- 1 citationsA Systematic Review of the Impact of Patient Pain Catastrophizing and Resiliency on Patient-Reported Outcomes in Hip Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement.Rebecca M Haley, Yuta Umeda, Martina Hale, Kurt P Spindler, James T Rosneck
Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy Review. 2026-09-01 - 1 citationsStandardized MRI nomenclature for knee meniscal lesions: SSR consensus panel report.Jie C Nguyen, Tetyana Gorbachova, Dyan V Flores, Bethany U Casagranda, Majid Chalian
Skeletal Radiology. 2026-08-01 - 2 citationsStandardized Knee Meniscus MRI Reporting: An Interdisciplinary Delphi Consensus.Jie C Nguyen, Vandan S Patel, Geoffrey D Abrams, Erin F Alaia, Bethany U Casagranda
Radiology. 2026-06-01
Journal Articles
- Select Biomarkers on the Day of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Predict Poor Patient-Reported Outcomes at 2-Year Follow-up: A Pilot StudyVirginia B. Kraus, Virginia B. Kraus, Kurt P. Spindler, Kurt P. Spindler, Hindawi
- Multirater agreement of the causes of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction failure: a radiographic and video analysis of the MARS cohortMatava MJ, Arciero RA, Baumgarten KM, Carey JL, DeBerardino TM, Hame SL, Hannafin JA, Miller BS, Nissen CW, Taft TN, Wolf BR, Wright RW; MARS Group, Am J Sports Med, 1/1/2015
- Association of meniscal status, lower extremity alignment, and body mass index with chondrosis at revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstructionBrophy RH, Haas AK, Huston LJ, Nwosu SK; MARS Group, Wright RW, Am J Sports Med, 1/1/2015
Books/Book Chapters
Abstracts/Posters
- Symptoms of Osteoarthritis.Spindler KP, Wasserstein D, OARSI, Paris, France, 4/27/2014
- Joint Space Width in ACLR.Spindler KP, Jones M, OARSI, Paris, France, 4/26/2014
- Gender Based Differences in Outcomes Following ACL Reconstruction in Soccer Athletes from MOON Cohort.Spindler KP, European Society for Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy; American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine 2012 Annual Meeting,, Geneva, Switzerland, 2012; Baltimore, MD, 2012, 7/12/2012
Lectures
- Clinical Outcomes, from MOON to the Real WorldNashville, TN - 1/29/2016
- Clinical Outcomes from MOON to the Real WorldHanover, NH - 1/25/2016
- ACL Reconstruction OutcomesCoralville, IA - 1/22/2016
Other
- ACL Technique: Two-incision Bone-Patellar Tendon-Bone Autograft.Bergfeld JA, Spindler KP, Magnussen RA., American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Orthopaedic Knowledge Online
http://orthoportal.aaos.org/oko/article.aspx?article=OKO_SPO015
2/28/2011 - Evidence based approach for ACL injuries.Spindler KP, Khazzam M, Wright RW, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Orthopaedic Knowledge Online
1/1/2010 - Knee symptoms.Spindler KP and McCarty EC, webEBM.com
1/1/2001
Authored Content
- Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial of Physical Therapy (PT) or Sham PT in Persons with Knee Pain, Meniscal Tear, and Osteoarthritic Imaging ChangesNovember 2024
Press Mentions
ACL Showdown: Can the BEAR Implant Take on the Gold Standard?July 28th, 2025- BEAR MOON Study of Miach Orthopaedics’ BEAR® Implant Completes EnrollmentJuly 7th, 2025
- Arthroscopic Meniscal Repair During Revision ACLR: Low Failure Rates Reported at 6-Year Follow-UpNovember 25th, 2024
Grant Support
- Clinical Scholars Career Development Program (CSCDP)CLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COM-CWRU2024–2027
- Imaging post-traumatic osteoarthritis 10-years after ACL reconstruction: a multicenter cohort study with quantitative MRICLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COM-CWRU2019–2025
- BEAR-MOON: A Two Arm Noninferiority Blinded Randomized Clinical Trial Comparing ACL Repair with BEAR Device vs. Standard of Care Autograft Patellar Tendon ACL ReconstructionCLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COM-CWRU2018–2025
Professional Memberships
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