Kristoffer M Breien, MD

Experience & Expertise

I joined Summit in 2004, and I’m proud to be the second-longest tenured member of this practice. I’m a fellowship-trained hip and knee replacement expert who focuses on first-time knee and hip replacements as well as second-time hip and knee replacements (also called revisions).

Patient Impact

The most rewarding part of my job is patient satisfaction: taking a person from a point of misery to a point of ability, where they can get back to doing things they once enjoyed. Seeing a person in my office after surgery and hearing how they’re on their way to becoming the active person they used to be is what makes it all worthwhile.

Treatment Philosophy

One of the first questions patients ask me is whether they should have knee or hip replacement surgery and when I think they should have it. And I always say that, even though I perform 600 or 700 joint replacements a year, I’m not a hip and knee replacement salesman. We want to go through all the conservative care options possible first, from over-the-counter remedies, to physical therapy, to second-line treatments like injections and bracing.

Approach to Care

To summarize my approach to care, I’d say I like to be conservative and holistic. I like to educate patients and be a partner with my patients. A hip or knee replacement is a quality of life operation, and my patients have to decide whether or when it’s worth it to them to go through the operation and recovery. I’m here to support them, but it’s not a choice I can make. It’s their choice.

Life Outside the Clinic

Outside the office, I’m a big sports nerd. I pretty much like to watch any and every sport. In terms of sports I participate in, I’m an avid fisherman and golfer. I spent the first eight years of my life in Norway, so I speak Norwegian, and my dad is Norwegian. I love to ski in the winter — and I make sure to get my knee injected before I ski, because, like many of my patients, my knee is not so great at times.