Find a Top Orthopedic Surgeon Near Me in Santa Monica, CA – Book an Appointment Instantly

Brandon A. Ortega, MD, is a fellowship-trained orthopedic spine surgeon who provides comprehensive and personalized spinal care to adults in Torrance and Long Beach, California. His dedication to helping each patient regain mobility, reduce pain, and improve their quality of life has earned the respect of everyone in the community struggling with neck and back pain.

Dr. Ortega received his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. He stayed at USC to complete his orthopedic surgery residency, where he served as chief resident.

He pursued specialized training in spine surgery, completing a fellowship at the prestigious University of California, Davis. During his fellowship training, he learned traditional, minimally invasive, and image-guided techniques for treating complex adult and pediatric spinal deformities.

Dr. Ortega specializes in diagnosing and treating all cervical (neck), thoracic (mid-back), and lumbar (lower back) conditions. His areas of interest include motion-preserving and minimally invasive surgery and using advanced technologies like navigation, robotics, and endoscopy to improve patient safety and outcomes.

He has published many peer-reviewed articles and textbook chapters and presented his research at national and international medical conferences. 

Taking a compassionate and patient-centered approach, Dr. Ortega believes in treating each patient as a person and tailoring treatment to meet their specific needs and goals. 

He creates treatment plans that integrate nonoperative interventions, including lifestyle and activity changes, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and pain management. His whole-person approach addresses each patient’s spine condition, optimizing conservative treatments and helping them avoid surgery whenever possible.

Dr. Ortega welcomes new patients and looks forward to providing ongoing care to his current patients, working with them to restore an active, healthy life.

Gregory Carlson, MD, of Restore Orthopedics and Spine Center in Orange, California, is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with subspecialty training in spine surgery. He specializes in minimally invasive spinal surgery for rapid recovery, including diagnosis and repair of previously failed spinal surgeries, revision surgery, and artificial disc replacement and other motion preservation techniques. He also performs microsurgical procedures for herniated discs, spinal stenosis, and other neurocompressive problems.

After completing his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biology at Southern University in Collegedale, Tennessee, Dr. Carlson attended medical school in California, at Loma Linda University, graduating with Alpha Omega Alpha honors. He did his residency and first year of spine fellowship at the University of California, San Diego, and then finished a second spine fellowship at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Dr. Carlson has published numerous scientific articles on both basic science and clinical topics, and lectures extensively on spinal reconstructive topics. He continues to teach residents and orthopedic surgeons both locally and abroad. Dr. Carlson is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopedics at the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Carlson serves on the editorial advisory boards for Spine and The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery and regularly provides peer review services for scholarly articles that have been submitted for publication. He has received research funding for clinical and basic research projects resulting in award-winning paper presentations at a number of spine society meetings.

He is a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the California Orthopedic Association, the Orange County Medical Association, the American Orthopedic Association, and the Cervical Spine Research Society.

Considered one of the top physicians in his field, Dr. Steve Mora is a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports related trauma, knee, shoulder and arthroscopic treatment of the hip and the elbow.  He has a passion for treating and preventing injuries related to mixed martial arts and soccer. Dr. Mora has unique perspective on orthopedic surgery, having suffered from serious orthopedic injury himself that required multiple surgeries and a lengthy recovery time. He knows on a personal level what his patients are going through both physically and emotionally.

Although he has extensive surgical training, Dr. Mora takes a generally conservative, patient-tailored treatment approach, offering non-operative options wherever possible. However, when surgery is necessary, his patients can rest assured that it will be handled with leading-edge technology.

Because of his expertise, Dr. Mora is a frequent lecturer on sports injuries, and has been published extensively on sport injury related topics. He is a member of the Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA) and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Dr. Mora speaks fluent Spanish and is the team doctor for the Pro soccer team the Anaheim Bolts, Foothill High School, and Professional UFC fighters.

For more info go to www.myorthodoc.com 

Specialty

• Orthopedic Knee and Shoulder Specialist
• Knee, Elbow and Hip Arthroscopy

Subspecialty

• Sport Medicine
• Cartilage Restoration

Special Expertise

• Complex Knee and Shoulder Reconstruction
• Partial Knee Replacement
• Complex Cartilage Injuries of the Knee
• Sports-Related Trauma
• Arthritis

Procedures and Services:

Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery for:

– Rotator Cuff Tendon Tears including revision repair for failed Rotator Cuff Repair

– Rotator Cuff Tendon Impingement and Bursitis

– Rotator Cuff Calcium Deposits aka Calcific Tendinitis

– Shoulder Instability (Dislocations) and Labral Tears

– Shoulder Joint Arthritis and Loose Bodies

– Shoulder Joint Stiffness (Frozen Shoulder/ Adhesive Capsulitis)

– Acromio-Clavicular (AC joint) Arthritis and Pain

– Biceps Tendonitis and Tears

– Complications Resulting from Prior Shoulder Surgery 

Open Shoulder Surgery for:

– Total Shoulder Arthroplasty/ Replacement

– Partial Shoulder Replacement/ Hemi-Arthroplasty

– Shoulder Instability with Bone Loss or for failed arthroscopic repair

– Acromio-Clavicular (AC joint) Separation/ Dislocation

– Proximal Humerus Fractures

– Clavicle Fractures

– Pectoralis Major Muscle Rupture

– Acute Proximal Biceps Ruptures 

Arthroscopic Knee Surgery for:

– Meniscus Tear Repair or Excision

– Articular Cartilage Damage/ Chondromalacia

– Stiffness/ Catching After Total Knee Arthroplasty

– Patellar Pain

– Loose Bodies
 Synovitis

Open Knee Surgery for:

– Patellar Dislocation/ Subluxation (MPFL Reconstruction)

– Torn Patellar & Quadriceps Tendons

– Reconstruction of Collateral Ligament Instability

– Persistent Bursitis

– Cartilage Resurfacing including Genzyme, OATS, Fresh Allograft, Meniscus – Transplantation 

Elbow Arthroscopic and Open Procedures:

– Fractures including olecranon, radial head and coronoid fractures

– Elbow Stiffness due to arthritis and trauma

– Lateral Epicondylitis

– Persistent Bursitis

Hip Arthroscopy for the treatment of labral tears, impingement and loose bodies

Treatment of most fractures including ankle, forearm, tibia and wrist

Non-Operative Orthopedic Procedures include Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and Bone Marrow Derived Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cell injections and Hyaluronic Acid Injections for the treatment of sports injuries and arthritis.

Education

University of California Irvine (UCI) School of Medicine

• Finished top of his class, earing the coveted Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society

Residency

University of Southern California (USC/LAC) Medical Center

• Gained extensive experience taking care of high energy trauma and complex fractures

Fellowship

Santa Monica Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine Group

• Sports arthroscopy, shoulder, knee and cartilage

Message from Dr. Mora

"I hope to create a close patient-doctor relationship based on trust and mutual respect. I believe my patients’ medical treatment begins with their complete understanding of their condition, and I promise to do my very best to understand the cause of your pain and then provide a treatment approach that is tailored to meet your specific needs.

I believe that my success in diagnosing and treating orthopedic problems was borne out of my own personal traumatic injury to my legs. While living in Peru, I was struck by a commuter bus, severely injuring my legs and forever changing my life. I have experienced many of the same surgeries that I now perform on my own patients — and I believe this experience has allowed me to be more in tune with my patients’ concerns, symptoms and experiences.

My family heritage is Peruvian and I speak fluent Spanish."