Spine Surgeons at Hospital for Special Surgery - need advice

K

Kunmui

New member
I need surgery for 2 herniated discs in my lower back. I've heard the Hospital for Special Surgery has the lowest infection rates in the country. I'd love to get any PERSONAL recommendations of the below doctors. If anyone has had surgery with them, I'd love to get some feedback. It's so hard seeing someone cold w/out references. Thanks so much for any help!

Doctor's I'm considering:

Federico P. Girardi, MD
Russel C. Huang, MD
James C. Farmer, MD
Andrew A. Sama, MD
Harvinder S. Sandhu, MD
 
I've seen Dr. Andrew Sama and a nicer person you will not find. Took his time with me and was very thorough. I liked him a lot.

Ended up not having my surgery there for reasons other than him(insurance).

I would not hesitate to recommend Dr. Sama.

I also saw Dr. Farmer during my visits there and I did not like him at all. No communication skills. Very gruff, I found. See Sama if you can.

good luck............Jenny
 
Jenny, thanks for your response. That's good to hear about Sama. Did someone refer you to him? Do you know anyone I can speak with who had surgery with him? Thanks!
 
Thanks for the responses.
I actually heard Camissa had the highest infection rate at HSS. Although overall, i thought HSS had the lowest infection rates out of any hopspital in NYC. Does anyone know if this is true? I found someone I liked at NYU Joint Disease Hospital, but have since heard of 3 people who died there from staph infections. They were totally healthy when they went in for routine surgery...

Thanks again.
 
No, I picked him after doing some research. He is the team spine doc for the NY Giants and I figured he'd be up on the latest research in that position. That swayed me.

So I took a chance and really liked him. He an Dr. Camissa are considered the 2 best spine docs at HSS.(Camissa is very expensive and goes way over what insurance will pay).

My primary doc has had some surgery at HSS and recommended anyone there(knee replacements).

Sorry but that's all I've got.

Jenny
 
On things like infection rates, the docs who do the most complicated surgeries also end up with the highest rates of death and infection because they do the trickiest surgeries. If they stuck to the simple surgeries with low risks, then their risk rates would be low but you have to be very good to do the tough stuff and just by the nature of the surgery, the risk rates go up.

My neurosurgeon in Boston is very similar. Has a higher rate than any of the others as he does surgery no one else in the hospital does. And like Camissa, is very busy and you rarely see him. Operates 4 days a week. But I wrote him a long letter chewing him out for how he treated me and he apologized and has drastically changed his practice. He went to that hospital to get off of the rat race he had been in as chief of spine surgery at Brigham&Womens and teaching at Harvard and yet, was doing the same thing as before. So he changed and I applauded him for it. Takes a big doc to make those kinRAB of changes and admit it. We get along well now.

The problem with top docs are everyone wants them and they are BUSY. That's why I saw Sama....#2 to Camissa and not as busy.

Lots of things to figure out.

Jenny
 
I live in NYC. If I was facing surgery I would absolutely want it done at HSS. Everyone I know who has had surgery there swears it's the best level of care you'll find ... anywhere! I did have rotator cuff surgery at Hosp. joint disease and was happy with that, but at that time I had insurance that wasn't accepted at HHS or I would probably have gone there.

Jen
 
A friend of mine had surgery with Camissa. She was satisfied with the surgery, but was a little surprised at what little contact she had with the doctor. Other than performing the surgery, she saw him briefly once before surgery and briefly in the hospital after surgery. All post-op care was done by others, and she never saw the doctor again.

If any type of continued contact is desired in post-operative care, I would suggest you inquire prior to selecting a surgeon how this is handled and by whom.
 
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