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percentage of 1st Scoliosis surgery rlater require revision?

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  • #16
    This is Linda's area of deep knowledge but for the top surgeons, the outcomes are probably dictated by the condition of the patient as opposed to any mistakes the surgeon makes. The surgeons take the patients as they come.

    Also in re infection rates, that is correlated with the hospital as opposed to the surgeon as far as I know.

    The naive thought with new patients is understandably that the outcomes are completely a function of surgeon expertise and error but that is probably very far from the truth. The top guys who take the worst cases probably have the worst outcome record and perhaps the highest malpractice suit rate. But that is a function of the poor condition of the patients almost certainly. They are also the same surgeons who accomplish the most "miraculous" results.

    Surgeons take patients as they come and in some cases those patients waited so long on surgery that it makes the surgeon's job so much harder.

    There is a reason complications scale with patient age and curve severity.
    Sharon, mother of identical twin girls with scoliosis

    No island of sanity.

    Question: What do you call alternative medicine that works?
    Answer: Medicine


    "We are all African."

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    • #17
      Originally posted by Scared View Post
      Linda, Is there a way to find individual Surgeons outcomes? Especially for Dr Munish Gupta's? Thanks Nancy
      No, sorry. And, I don't think it's even worth the effort to ask a surgeon about their complication rates. Most won't even know. And, if they do know, and it's not a small percentage, they could and probably will lie about it.

      All you can do is what you're probably already doing. Look online for reviews. However, patient reviews aren't going to give you a truly accurate picture. As mentioned above, the surgeons who do the most complex surgeries are going to have more complications than those who do less complex surgeries. If you see a LOT of negative reviews, I would be concerned. The other thing to check is training. I think, if possible, you really want someone who has been fellowship trained at one of the most highly regarded spine centers (e.g., Washington University, Columbia (but only for the last 4 years), UCSF, Hospital for Special Surgery).

      With all that said, Dr. Gupta is highly regarded, and I would absolutely let him operate on me. That doesn't mean you'll be guaranteed a good outcome, but it probably somewhat limits the possibility of a bad outcome.

      --Linda
      Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
      ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
      Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

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      • #18
        Understand- I Use to establish outcome measures & review them. I chose Dr G because he was rated as 1 of best Scoliosis drs in USA. I recently found out about 1 member of his team Clinical Research Coordinator but not sure her about her exact responsibilities are - may reach out to her. But I do know that it’s a crap shoot in the end. Given my age + kyphosis/Osteoarthritis/flatback/DDD all thru my spine and looking at 2 surgeries (Cervical & Scoliosis fused from thoracic to pelvic), I’m worried about what the future has in store for me- can’t help it (sad) - Medial Branch Block done yesterday L3-5 on L side was ineffective-was so hoping that it would work to manage the pain.

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        • #19
          Lots of sites rate doctors, google and yelp included, healthgrades. But the reviews are not that useful for a number of reasons.

          First, there are often too few reviews because I think people fear reviewing doctors. (Even more people fear reviewing lawyers for obvious reasons. Lawyer reviews are even rarer because people can be sued for writing negative reviews. And doctors have lawyers behind them.). Too small a sample size.

          Second, the reviews of surgeons are often written by patients who never went ahead with any surgery and therefore have nothing to comment on except how friendly the doctor was on their only consultation, how knowledgeable he seemed, if he took them on time, if his office staff was nice. Not what you really want to hear.

          I would go to the hospital with the best reputation in your area and try to ask for referrals. Surgeons seem to be very specialized and there is likely only a small subset of all the orthopedic surgeons or neurosurgeons on staff at that hospital who work on scoliosis cases.

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