Dr. Lemma is a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeon, specializing in the surgical treatment of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine disorders. He sees patients in Bel Air, Rosedale / White Marsh, and in Baltimore at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital.

Pursuing a career in orthopaedic surgery seemed a natural fit to Dr. Lemma's background as a mechanical engineer. After completing his residency and fellowship training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, he served as division chief of Johns Hopkins Orthopaedic and Spine Surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital, prior to transitioning to MedStar Orthopaedics in 2014.

Dr. Lemma's areas of intellectual interest and clinical expertise center around minimally invasive spine surgery. Using tubular retractors in lieu of traditional open surgery, state-of-the-art technologies, and computer-assisted navigation allows Dr. Lemma to deliver to his patients the best solutions with the least amount of invasion. A large portion of his practice also focuses on spinal problems in the elderly, rheumatoid arthritis of the spine, spinal deformity, and revision spinal surgery.

Dr. Lemma remains active in resident and surgeon education, and was honored to be the recipient of the Teacher of the Year Award from the Johns Hopkins University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in 2014. He has also been involved in developing innovative spine surgical techniques and new technologies and relates his experiences to other surgeons, both from the podium as well as in smaller teaching seminars. It has been a privilege for Dr. Lemma to be listed by both U.S. News and World Report's and Castle Connolly in their lists of Top Doctors in the U.S., as well as being named among the Top 100 Spine Surgeons in the U.S. by Becker's Healthcare. He currently serves as divisoin chief of spine surgery as well as director of minimally invasive spine surgery at Medstar Union Memorial Hospital.

Read Dr. Lemma's CV.

Conditions I treat:

• Disc herniation with neck or arm symptoms
• Cervical stenosis/myelopathy
• Rheumatoid arthritis in the cervical spine
• Cervical instability
• Cervical trauma
• Spinal tumors in the neck
• Revision cervical surgery

Mid-back (Thoracic):

• Scoliosis
• Complex fractures
• Spinal tumors

Lower back (Lumbar):

• Disc herniation with low back or leg symptoms
• Lumbar spinal stenosis
• Lumbar spondylolisthesis/instability
• Low back pain
• Scoliosis / Deformity
• Failed spinal surgery

Procedures I perform:
Neck (Cervical):

• Artificial disc replacement
• ACDF (Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion)
• Stand-alone ACDF (no plate)
• Cervical laminectomy
• Cervical instrumentation/fusion
• C1-2 fusion

Mid and lower back (Thoraco-Lumbar):

• Minimally invasive decompression
• Minimally invasive fusion / TLIF
• Microdiscectomy
• Laminectomy
• Spinal instrumentation / fusion
• MIDLIF procedure
• Coflex
• XLIF
• Anterior spinal surgery (ALIF, DLIF)
• Revision spinal surgery