72338-Sawyer, Justin

Justin D. Sawyer, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery

Address
EH 232
SPLA
IN
Indianapolis, IN

Bio

Dr. Sawyer currently serves as Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery in the Division of Plastic Surgery. Dr. Sawyer received his medical degree from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

Prior to joining Indiana University, Dr. Sawyer completed his Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery residency at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and a fellowship in Orthopedic Hand Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.  

His clinical focus is in hand surgery, extremity reconstruction, and peripheral nerve surgery and includes the breadth of elective and traumatic hand/wrist/forearm surgery, lower extremity reconstruction, and peripheral nerve surgery. He has a special interest in surgery related to pain and dysfunction of peripheral nerves in the extremities, hand and wrist fractures, and microsurgery in the extremities. 

Dr. Sawyer’s research focus is in outcomes and biomechanics in upper extremity surgery as well as vascular disorders of the hand. He has served as a contributor to more than 15 of peer-reviewed publications.

Key Publications

  1. Daugherty T, Sawyer J, Gillin T, Abbasi P, Yohe G, Higgins JP, Means KR Jr. The Effect of Forearm Shortening on Finger Flexion: A Biomechanical Study. J Hand Surg Am. 2025 Sep;50(9):1126.e1-1126.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2024.09.005. Epub 2024 Oct 11. PMID: 39396359.
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39396359/

  2. Sawyer JD, Davis J, Scaife S, Neumeister MW, Daugherty THF. Operative Versus Nonoperative Management of Pyogenic Flexor Tenosynovitis: An Analysis of the National Readmissions Database. J Hand Surg Glob Online. 2024 Oct 10;7(1):9-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsg.2024.08.017. PMID: 39991610; PMCID: PMC11846556.
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39991610/

  3. Mendenhall SD, Ginnetti MT, Sawyer JD, Verhulst SJ, West BL, Levin LS, Neumeister MW. Prevalence and Distribution of Potential Vascularized Composite Allotransplant Donors, Implications for Optimizing the Donor-recipient Match. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2018 Jun 18;6(6):e1833. doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000001833. PMID: 30276058; PMCID: PMC6157933.
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30276058/

  4. Mendenhall SD, Sawyer JD, West BL, Neumeister MW, Shaked A, Levin LS. Pediatric vascularized composite allotransplantation: What is the landscape for obtaining appropriate donors in the United States? Pediatr Transplant. 2019 Aug;23(5):e13466. doi: 10.1111/petr.13466. Epub 2019 May 12. PMID: 31081211.
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31081211/

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