Surgical style - what difference do it make?

[danny1553]

I have been watching surgery videos from both doctors. Well, obviously Dr. Kramer has more YouTube popularity due to numerous videos he has been posting. However, when watching techniques, it seems like Dr. Kramer is more… I do not even what word to pick, maybe more “elegant”.
When I watch how Dr. Kramer performs, it gives an illusion that it is easy. The way he moves his knife, he speaks and makes stitches; all looks very efficient and quick. While Dr. Eid does not create an impression that the surgery is a just a “piece of cake”. Other thing I noticed was that Dr. Kramer often used electric knife while Dr. Eid just the regular one. On the other hand, it seems like Dr. Eid tends to make smaller cuts and openings.

No doubt that both are the top world surgeons though. If I had a chance, I would not hesitate to go with either of them.

[moetheman]

The choice of surgeon is a very personal matter and one can't go far wrong by picking one of these top guys. Initially I was planning to use Kramer as he's cheaper and one of the top docs. However in the end I decided to pick Eid as for one he was willing to do the revision earlier and second, he oozes quality and perfectionism. He's not trying to make the surgery look easy and in fact he makes it much harder for himself. He could have left Merrix and I perfectly happy with RTEs and we probably wouldn't have known any different. Yet he took the extra time, even opting to discard the slightly smaller implant. This is just one example. The fact that Eid takes his time is a plus point. I think someone mentioned that kramer has to rush through complicated cases if he has 4 or 5 guys lined up that day. Not sure how true it is but for a complicated revision like mine, Eid seemed like a better choice for *me*. Not too say kramer wouldn't have done an equally good job and I guess we'll never know.

[KMeister]

I have been watching surgery videos from both doctors. Well, obviously Dr. Kramer has more YouTube popularity due to numerous videos he has been posting. However, when watching techniques, it seems like Dr. Kramer is more… I do not even what word to pick, maybe more “elegant”.
When I watch how Dr. Kramer performs, it gives an illusion that it is easy. The way he moves his knife, he speaks and makes stitches; all looks very efficient and quick. While Dr. Eid does not create an impression that the surgery is a just a “piece of cake”. Other thing I noticed was that Dr. Kramer often used electric knife while Dr. Eid just the regular one. On the other hand, it seems like Dr. Eid tends to make smaller cuts and openings.

No doubt that both are the top world surgeons though. If I had a chance, I would not hesitate to go with either of them.

There's Kramer, there's Eid, yada, yada, yada.

It's big country. There are several skilled surgeons all across the country who can do an excellent job; probably a good half-dozen in California alone.

KMeister

[strongagain]

It's big country. There are several skilled surgeons all across the country who can do an excellent job; probably a good half-dozen in California alone.

Really? But why are so many people here complaining about their doctors? Why do many need revisions?

[OttoHS]

Coke vs Pepsi, Harvard vs Yale . . . I was implanted by Dr Kramer and had both a great doctor-patient relationship and a great result. There are many people here who sing the praises of Dr Eid as loudly as I sing the praises of Dr Kramer. I usually do not wade into partisan arguments such as this one where ultimately everyone is saying that the choice he made is the best. But, since the Eid fanboys seem to be weighing in more heavily up to this point in the thread, I will make my case for Dr. Kramer.

I cannot judge Dr Kramer's technical skills as a surgeon versus other surgeons other that to say that I had a great result and a much faster recovery from my implant than many people report having. I was virtually pain free within 10 days of surgery and within 20 days I felt as if I never had had surgery. I was riding my bicycle 20 miles over hilly terrain five weeks after surgery.

However, the one thing I can judge is the quality of Dr Kramer's communication and obsession with patient satisfaction. As others have written in other posts, Dr Kramer is incredibly accessible and responsive. I know of no doctor other than Dr Kramer who responds to emails quickly as he does. He often has responded within minutes to an email and the longest time he has taken to respond has been a few hours. He even telephoned me from his vacation when I emailed him with a detailed question.

There have been several comments implying that Dr Kramer may not spend sufficient time on hard cases because he has other surgeries scheduled. I don't know what his surgery schedule looks like, but both times he operated on me (implant first and then sling surgery), he spent a great deal of time with me before and after surgery. I did not get the impression that his schedule was so compressed that he could not spend additional time with a patient if the patient required it. Given Dr Kramer's obsession with getting a perfect result, I find it hard to believe that he would not take the time he felt that it was necessary to achieve the best result possible.

My vote in this contest is Kramer over Eid. But, whichever one someone chooses, I think that he will have a great result.

[dirtman1993]

I chose Dr. Kramer and glad I did. Had a little trouble with one down side and instead of taking a short cut he spent the time and did a little extra to make it perfect. One of Dr. Kramers was also a doctor and he said to watch his hands. It showed this doctor just how good he is.

[danny1553]

There's Kramer, there's Eid, yada, yada, yada.

It's big country. There are several skilled surgeons all across the country who can do an excellent job; probably a good half-dozen in California alone.
KMeister

My goal was not creating the “top list” of surgeons, just comparing those two who I really like.
I noticed some difference in techniques and decided to share thoughts. Nothing more than that…

[treifsnyder]

Yes- Kramer is very smooth and elegant, good way to describe him. Makes everything look easy. Hands either look nice and slow at times, or look like he sped up the recording and played it in fast motion but he didn't- he's just got fast hands.

[stringerbell]

They both seem extremely skilled, though I admit Kramer looks a bit more so. I'm reading about how Eid takes his time and is a perfectionist, so with so many claims my bet is that it's true. Something about Dr. Kramer appears to be very graceful and technically sound.

[merrix]

Fruitful discussion. They do hundreds of implants each yearly. Here are 10 guys who have used one or none of them, giving their guesses as to who is best.
Good luck coming to a valid conclusion.