Decision process for surgeon

[william7]

I'm curious to know how everyone who has had an implant came to their decision regarding the surgeon they used. What was your decision process? Was it based on the number they implanted versus their infection rate, location, insurance accepted or even method used (pubic vs. scrotal), device used (Coloplast vs. AMS) or ultimate cost of the procedure? If you could share how you came to decide which surgeon to use, I would greatly appreciate it!

[dg_moore]

I am fortunate enough to live 30 minutes away from one of the best implant surgeons in the country - Andrew Kramer at U of MD Medical Center in Baltimore. I had a consultation with him and also spoke with one of his recent patients and knew that he was the surgeon for me. Ask your uro or PCP for a referral, or check with the urology department at your nearest medical school. Look for somebody with lots of experience (hundreds if not thousands of implants) and low infection rate. If you can't find anybody nearby there's nothing wrong with traveling to a good center.

[stringerbell]

I went to Kramer in Baltimore as well… I believe he's the 3d highest volume surgeon in the world, but a really skilled, terrific guy- no baggages, lawsuits, ego, etc.

[JDavid]

I was willing to travel across the U.S. if need be but learned of a surgeon a few hours away who was well recommended here in California. It has been great.

[Olivero66]

The most popular names are Eid(NY), Kramer(Baltimore), Garber(Philadelphia), Milam(Tennessee), Perito(Florida), Morey(Dallas) and some more like Karpman, Goldstein, Burnett with not so high volumes.
The highest volume guy is Perito, and Kramer, for instance, underwent training at his center (I guess for the infrapubic technique.) Perito is highly appreciated, albeit some say he received a lot of lawsuits. At last he's done more than 6000.
A high volume guy of the past is Steven Karl Wilson, but by now he's got very old and tends to operate sloppily, as I experienced painfully myself.
The problem is: When someone has a volume of some thousands - how can you know the botched amount of his work? I'd prefer someone with a total of 800 among which 20 failed to someone of 5000 among which 943 failed. But it's quite impossible to gain that information.

[Charlie999]

William, I will gadly share my experience with you. First thing for me was how many implants and patients Satisfaction. Since this was one of the most important decisions for me, I wanted the best. I chose dr Perito. I was impressed by the number of implants he has done, and bio info. He really lives in this implant world. During my exam there, he, with my permission, invited a dr he is training to observed my case. My procedure went picture perfect. Very little pain. Dr p. Gave me his cell nr to call with any concern. I am now about nine weeks post surgery, and all is great, and I thank God for this. Also, my wife, who is an MD, was very impressed with his work. If I can answer any question to help you, let me know.

God Bless,

Charlie