Dr. Pablo Etcheverry

Dr. Pablo Etcheverry is one of Uruguay's most respected orthopedic surgeons, with over two decades of dedicated practice in hip and knee arthroplasty, arthroscopic surgery, and sports traumatology at Hospital Pasteur in Montevideo. His surname — Etcheverry — is of Basque origin, reflecting the significant heritage of Basque immigrants who settled in Uruguay in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and whose descendants have made enduring contributions to Uruguayan professional, cultural, and intellectual life. This European connection, both cultural and educational, has shaped Dr. Etcheverry's approach to surgical training and professional exchange.

Hospital Pasteur is one of Montevideo's principal public teaching hospitals, part of the network of institutions that anchor Uruguay's Administración de los Servicios de Salud del Estado (ASSE). Practicing in this setting has given Dr. Etcheverry exposure to a broad and demanding caseload, managing complex degenerative and traumatic orthopedic conditions across the socioeconomic spectrum. His commitment to public-sector hospital medicine reflects a conviction that high-quality orthopedic surgery should be accessible to all Uruguayan patients, not only those with private insurance coverage.

Dr. Etcheverry has developed particular expertise in revision arthroplasty — complex cases in which primary hip or knee replacements have failed due to aseptic loosening, infection, instability, or implant wear, requiring technically demanding reconstructive procedures that are among the most challenging in orthopedic surgery. His revision arthroplasty practice attracts referrals from across Uruguay and from patients in neighboring Argentina who seek his expertise.

In addition to arthroplasty, Dr. Etcheverry is an accomplished arthroscopist with a strong sports traumatology practice, treating athletes and active individuals with knee and shoulder injuries using minimally invasive operative techniques. He brings a thoughtful, evidence-based philosophy to surgical decision making, carefully weighing operative and non-operative options for each patient's specific clinical situation.

Dr. Etcheverry completed his MD at the Universidad de la República in Montevideo, before undertaking a comprehensive Orthopedic Surgery residency at Hospital Pasteur — an institution renowned for the depth and volume of its surgical training program. After completing his residency, he pursued advanced fellowship training in Hip and Knee Arthroplasty, with a fellowship that included a period of training in France, where he developed a professional connection with the French orthopedic community that continues through his membership in the Société Française d'Orthopédie et Traumatologie (SOFCOT).

His Basque-French cultural heritage naturally facilitated this engagement with French-speaking orthopedic communities, where he gained exposure to arthroplasty techniques and implant philosophies with a particularly strong tradition in hip surgery — an area in which French orthopedic centers have historically excelled. He also completed training in arthroscopic surgery and sports traumatology, and has participated in cadaveric workshops focused on revision arthroplasty techniques and complex acetabular reconstruction.

Dr. Etcheverry speaks Spanish, English, and French, and has benefited from educational exchanges in all three linguistic spheres — attending SOFCOT annual meetings in France, SLARD congresses in Latin America, and English-language orthopedic courses organized by international implant and technique specialists.

Dr. Etcheverry's surgical practice is anchored by hip and knee arthroplasty, where he performs a substantial volume of both primary and revision procedures. In primary hip replacement, he employs cementless and hybrid fixation strategies, applies minimally invasive approaches including the anterior approach to hip replacement, and selects implant systems based on patient-specific factors including age, bone quality, and activity level. For primary knee replacement, he uses both conventional and computer-assisted alignment techniques and is experienced in unicompartmental (partial) knee replacement for isolated compartment arthritis.

His revision arthroplasty expertise covers aseptic revisions for component loosening and wear, periprosthetic joint infection management including two-stage reimplantation protocols with antibiotic spacers, and complex acetabular reconstruction using augments, cages, and structural allografts. This subspecialty skill set is relatively rare in Uruguay, making him a recognized reference center for failed arthroplasty cases.

In arthroscopic surgery, Dr. Etcheverry performs knee arthroscopy for meniscal tears, chondral lesions, and synovial pathology; ACL and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstruction; and shoulder arthroscopy for rotator cuff repair, labral stabilization (Bankart repair) for instability, acromioplasty, and biceps tenodesis. He also addresses hip impingement (femoroacetabular impingement, FAI) arthroscopically in selected patients.

Dr. Etcheverry is engaged in outcomes research focused on arthroplasty survivorship and patient-reported outcomes in the Uruguayan population. He has contributed to efforts to establish an Uruguayan arthroplasty registry — modeled on the highly successful Scandinavian and Australian national joint replacement registries — which would allow systematic tracking of implant performance and complication rates across the national healthcare system.

He has published case series and retrospective outcome data on primary and revision total hip replacement through the Sociedad Uruguaya de Ortopedia y Traumatología (SUOT) and has presented at SLARD congresses on arthroscopic knee surgery outcomes. His French-language professional connections have facilitated exchange of surgical technique data and collaborative case discussions with SOFCOT colleagues, reflecting the value of international professional networks in advancing regional surgical practice.

Dr. Etcheverry treats patients from across Uruguay and receives referrals from Argentina, particularly for complex revision arthroplasty cases where his specific expertise is sought. He consults in Spanish, English, and French, making him accessible to patients from France, Belgium, Switzerland, and French-speaking Canada who may visit or reside in Uruguay.

For international patients considering hip or knee replacement surgery in Montevideo, Hospital Pasteur's orthopedic team can provide coordinated care including pre-operative assessment, surgery, in-hospital rehabilitation, and discharge planning. Dr. Etcheverry is available for video consultations to review X-rays, CT scans, and clinical histories remotely, providing a surgical assessment and recommendation before patients commit to travel. He also offers video follow-up post-operatively for patients who return to their home countries after surgery in Montevideo.

Dr. Etcheverry is a recognized member of the Sociedad Uruguaya de Ortopedia y Traumatología (SUOT), the Sociedad Latinoamericana de Artroscopia, Rodilla y Deporte (SLARD), and the Société Française d'Orthopédie et Traumatologie (SOFCOT). He has been recognized by Hospital Pasteur for his contributions to the orthopedic surgery training program and for sustained clinical excellence in arthroplasty and arthroscopic surgery. He is a regular speaker at the Congreso Uruguayo de Ortopedia and has received recognition from SUOT for his work in advancing revision arthroplasty capabilities in Uruguay and for his efforts to establish systematic national joint replacement audit infrastructure.