Recommended Surgeons

Forum for parents of injured who are seeking information from other parents or people living with the injury. All welcome
gawilliams
Posts: 45
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2010 12:47 am
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Daughter born 8/16/10 has OBPI in the right arm....First surgery(nerve graft) done at 5 months(performed by Dr. Kozin).... four avulsions, one rupture (at the spine)..... As of 4/9/11 still no movement in arm, wrist or hand. As June 2013, bicep, elbow, shoulder function active, flexing with gravity, still no wrist or hand/finger function.

Recommended Surgeons

Post by gawilliams »

If my daughter needs surgery (she is currently 11 weeks old), I am looking for others' opinion and recommended surgeons. I am willing to travel where ever in the US. You can read my previous post in this forum for specifics on my daughters case. She has OBPI to the right arm. Has almost full shoulder movement, but no upper/lower arm nor wrist/hand/or fingers.
User avatar
KimW
Posts: 58
Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 9:24 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: My daughter has a right obstetrical injury. She is 16.
Two surgeries include nerve graft and muscle release.
A great kid that plays soccer, rides horses, plays the piano
and clarinet.

Re: Recommended Surgeons

Post by KimW »

Welcome to the boards, but I'm so sorry to hear of another young one injured!

If you look at the top menu under resources link you will find a medical directory that lists surgeons with experience in the bpi speciality. I would contact those by phone that you might be interested in and see if you get a feel from a phone call. Many of the surgeons offer clinics where your child can be evaluated and get recommendations.

I think nearly every one will tell you to get more than one opinion. You will nearly always get various opinions on treatment, as many doctors approach treatment in different ways. No one is more right than the other, there just isn't a well-defined treatment for the injury as each one is different.

That being said, as a parent of a child (12 years) that has had two surgeries, you'll need to find the treatment plan that you feel most comfortable with. My daughter has been seen by Nath (who did her two surgeries) with follow-up with the Cincinnati BPI clinic and Dr. Waters at Boston. If you would like any more information about my experiences, please feel free to e-mail me for details.

Best wishes to you and know that you are not alone!

Kim
Kim West
"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them." Lady Bird Johnson
trp314
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:44 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Kelsey was born on August 29 2008 and has a right BPI. We have gone back and forth from NY to see Dr Kozin in PA. He is AMAZING! Kelsey got a tendon transfer and shoulder release surgery on October 26th 2010 and has just recently gotten her cast off. She is now externally rotating and supinating....shes NEVER done that before!!!
Contact:

Re: Recommended Surgeons

Post by trp314 »

Dr. Kozin at Shriners Hospital in Philly is AMAZING!! he did my daughters surgery and I will be forever grateful!!
druxton
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 10:41 pm

Re: Recommended Surgeons

Post by druxton »

You might want to look into Dr.Thomas Tung and Dr. Susan Mackinnon. Dr. Nath actually studied under Dr. Mackinnon before he headed to Texas. Susan Mackinnon is Chief of Surgery at Barnes-Jewish and has written over 300 research articles on Brachial Plexus Injury and they are worth reading if you have the time. Mackinnon and Tung are located in St. Louis Mo. at Washington University, Barnes Jewish Hospital. My daughter is in the process of getting her surgeries done with Dr. Tung. Being in the healthcare field myself for the last 20 yrs I can honestly say with professional knowledge/background, these surgeons are top notch.
Its1105
Posts: 110
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:44 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: RTBPI - injured during a right cervical rib resection on 12/3/2008 for thoracic outlet syndrome. The doctor completely transected the lateral cord at C5-C6 Erb's pointe and the suprascapular nerve. Had a nerve repair done on 12/12/2008 to reattach the nerves. Did two years of OT. I have some issues with overuse issues with my left shoulder and also have come to find that my joints are hypermobile so I have instability in the joints which causes a lot of problems such as pressure and pain.
Location: Indiana
Contact:

Re: Recommended Surgeons

Post by Its1105 »

Dr Mih in Indianapolis IN at the Indiana Hand and Shoulder Center is great! He works out of multiple hospitals in Indy, including Riley Children's Hospital. He did my surgery for my TBPI, but the way my doctor found him was becuase a colleague stated that he did BPI surgeries on kids at Riley.

He did some of his training at Mayo Clinic and he has been an excellent doctor in my opinion. My experience with him has been absolutely wonderful.

Without him, I do not think I would be where I am today. He explained everything to me and my family and was a total patient advocate as well while I worked with my college when I missed school.

As others have said, just make sure that you find a doctor you are comfortable with. Many of the places will talk with you over the phone to give you an idea of their services and what not. Make sure you do your research and talk with your primary doctor as well so that you are comfortable with who you choose. If you meet someone and don't feel comfortable, get another opinion. That is the most important part! You want to find someone that fits your needs and can do what your child needs.
--
Marie
RTBPI December 2008
C5-C6
DAC2047
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:54 am
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Nanna to ROBPI

Re: Recommended Surgeons

Post by DAC2047 »

Also you may want to check into Dr. Grossman & Dr. Price, they work out of both New York, and Miami Florida. Both Top Notch surgeons with wonderful results. We also love Dr. Kozin in Philly! Amazing Doctor, great staff! Good luck in your search.
anotherbpimom...
Posts: 49
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:11 am

Re: Recommended Surgeons

Post by anotherbpimom... »

I would travel across the world for Dr. Stevanovic at Children's Hospital, Los Angeles. He is amazing. I would be happy to speak with you about your questions and concerns in general if you want to contact me. Please do your own research on any Dr. you're considering... LOTS of research!
Mikaylasmom0624
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:34 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: My daughter was born 6/24/11, she was diagnosed with Erb's Palsy and she has a winged scaptula

Re: Recommended Surgeons

Post by Mikaylasmom0624 »

We have not gone through any surgeries yet but we live in South Florida and have seen Dr Nath and Dr Grossman. We liked Dr. Nath but he is not a Medicaid provider so we now have been seeing Dr Grossman and we really like him a lot. My daughter is 5 1/2 months and goes for a MRI in January. They said its a 50/50 chance that she will need surgery so for now we are just continuing PT/OT
rappold6
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2011 11:43 am
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: OBPI December 29, 2008 to my son, Zach at birth. He has had 2 surgeries with Dr. Nath, has won SSDI but can't find a lawyer to help us or a support group in our area.

Re: Recommended Surgeons

Post by rappold6 »

Hey there and welcome to the boards. My son was seen by Dr. Grossman but I didn't care for him or his staff. We did, however, find Dr. Nath and loved him and his staff. We have had 2 surgeries with him and my son has had amazing results. The first surgery wasin WPB when he was 13 months and then again at 15 months old. We werew not covered by insurance but please do not let that stop you. Medicaid will pay for the hospital stay, anesthesia and such. You can make a payment arrangement with Dr. Nath or most OBPI surgeons. We will be happily paying and applying for grants for the rest of my life but my son can move his arm, not 100% but anything is better than they way he was born. Message me if you have any questions.
JessicasMom
Posts: 214
Joined: Thu Sep 18, 2003 4:59 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: 10 year old Jessica born on 9/6/03 with a LOBPI.
Mostly recovered, no surgery, still has remaining functional deficits
including no active external rotation.
Location: The Woodlands, TX

Re: Recommended Surgeons

Post by JessicasMom »

I personally would recommend Dr. Waters or Dr. Kozin, but I most definitely would not go to Dr. Nath. He recommended my daughter have 2 surgeries she did NOT need. We sought the opinion of 5 other surgeons and none agreed with Dr. Nath, who insisted she had a contracture. Today, at the age of 8, she never had surgery and absolutely no one knows she has an injury unless we tell them! Also, you can look up Dr. Nath through the Texas Medical Board and read the text of the disciplinary actions that have been filed against him by the board which are still pending and the result of which may be quite damaging for him. I will spare the nasty details here, but this is public information and you can certainly read about it here: http://reg.tmb.state.tx.us/OnLineVerif/ ... rmit=K4969

Michelle
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