A foot or ankle surgery outcome depends on more than the operation itself. It depends on an accurate decision about who actually needs surgery, and on the rehabilitation that follows it. Active Sports Therapy, in Hendersonville, has seen this firsthand through its work with Dr. Nick Strasser, a foot and ankle surgeon at Vanderbilt and Chief of the Foot and Ankle division.
Why does patient selection matter as much as the surgery itself?
Patient selection is the process a surgeon uses to decide who is genuinely a good candidate for a given procedure, instead of treating every similar case the same way. Two people can have nearly identical imaging and still need different plans, depending on their goals and the rest of their body. That is the piece of Dr. Strasser’s work that comes up first whenever the clinic’s team talks about him, his track record of being conservative and matching the right patient to the right procedure.
What does the clinic actually do in that handoff?
The clinic does not perform surgery. That is the surgeon’s part. The clinic’s part is the assessment that can help inform the decision, and the rehabilitative and therapeutic care, corrective exercise, and movement retraining that follow it, especially once someone is working to get back to normal activity or to sport. The two halves depend on each other. A well chosen procedure still needs solid rehab afterward, and good rehab planning depends on knowing exactly what the surgeon found and did.
How did the clinic come to work with Dr. Strasser?
The relationship started with a recommendation. At the clinic’s 2025 conference, Dr. Jaron Sullivan, from Vanderbilt Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, spent time talking through shoulder, hip, and knee cases, and kept returning to one name whenever the subject turned to feet and ankles. That recommendation is why Dr. Strasser was invited to speak at the clinic’s conference the following year.
What has this looked like for real patients?
Since that introduction, the clinic has referred a number of patients to Dr. Strasser for a foot or ankle opinion, including one of its professional basketball players, in cases where surgery was a real possibility. The same thing stands out each time.
We have been constantly blown away with Dr. Strasser, him being conservative and his ability and his skill set with patient selection, knowing the right patient to do a procedure on for their given goals.
Key points
- A good foot or ankle outcome depends on both an accurate surgical decision and the rehab that follows it.
- Patient selection means choosing who actually benefits from a given procedure, not treating every similar case the same way.
- Dr. Nick Strasser is a foot and ankle surgeon at Vanderbilt and Chief of the Foot and Ankle division.
- Dr. Jaron Sullivan’s recommendation at the clinic’s 2025 conference led to this working relationship.
- The clinic’s role is the assessment and rehab around the surgery, not the surgery itself.
Frequently asked questions
What is patient selection in orthopedic surgery?
It is the reasoning a surgeon uses to decide whether a given patient is actually a good fit for a procedure, based on their goals, their activity level, and their overall health, rather than their diagnosis alone.
Does rehab only start after surgery?
Not always. An assessment before surgery can help identify how the rest of the body is moving and compensating around the problem, which can inform both the surgical plan and the rehab plan that follows it.
Why would a rehab clinic invite an outside surgeon to speak to its team?
Hearing a surgeon explain their own reasoning gives a rehab team a clearer picture of what actually happened in a procedure, which helps them plan rehab around the real details of the case instead of guessing from a report.
Does Active Sports Therapy perform foot and ankle surgery?
No. The clinic provides assessment, rehabilitative care, and therapeutic care. Surgery is handled by surgeons like Dr. Strasser.
If you are dealing with a foot or ankle problem and are not sure whether it is a surgical issue or not, book a new patient visit and we will help you understand the options.
Active Sports Therapy · 123 Stadium Drive, Hendersonville, TN 37075 · 615-537-5520
Sources
- American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society, patient education on foot and ankle conditions and treatment: footcaremd.org
- American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, OrthoInfo: recovery and rehabilitation after orthopedic surgery: orthoinfo.aaos.org
- American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, patient resources on surgical and nonsurgical treatment options: foothealthfacts.org
Transcript of the video
When I we went to Eugene, we did go to Eugene and I joined a group there and for the first couple years I did everything lower extremity hip and knee arthroplasty. Oh trauma, but a lot of foot and ankle obviously. But it really laid the groundwork for developing skill sets that I think have lended themselves. Well into understanding not only all areas of Orthopedics but specifically foot and ankle and how it relates to everything else and was fortunate to work with track and field because we have the trials there.
We had we had the the world indoor championships in Portland. One year was really cool to be part of we had the Nationals several years there. So that was really fun. And then we worked with like University of Oregon was there and getting to work with them and their Athletics and Foot and Ankle probably gets mostly used in football.
And so we naturally get to take care of a lot of different players from from football team. So that was kind of my journey into it. And then as I got farther in I decided you know, I think this is something I want to Niche down a little bit. I felt like this was an area of interest and that was kind of led to our journey here to Middle Tennessee.
Like you said the Vanderbilt Orthopedics has been EXP. Doing and looking for more areas and they were looking for somebody to come in that could has real interest in Foot and Ankle sports medicine and be able to take care of the football team helped out with the preds and because now they’ve started to get all those contracts and cover those teams.
With Dr. Nick Strasser, foot and ankle surgeon at Vanderbilt and Chief of the Foot and Ankle division. See his practice.
