dr. don sanders in torrance, CA, USA

[john51]

hello everyone. this is my first post. just want to start off by saying how much i appreciate this site and the info i have i gotten from all of you.

i am scheduled to have a hip resurfaced in january. my story is the same as i have read on this site so many times; i'm 46, was 'somewhat' of an athlete and now have arthritis in my left hip. (also showing sighs of arthritis in my right hip.) went from being told to have a total hip replacement at the start of my journey (2 years ago) to, after seeing 4 orthopedics, coming to the conclusion that resurfacing is my best choice. even the original orthopedic who told me i needed a total hip replacement eventually told me i was an 'ideal candidate' for hip resurfacing. his issue was that he does not perform that surgery.

so, i am scheduled for surgery with dr. don sanders in torrance, CA. he comes very highly recommended by several people. (one of the rec's comes from one of my best friends who is a orthopedic hand specialist and says that dr. sanders has a 'very steady' hand. that's orthopedic speak for being an excellent surgeon.)

i also really liked dr. sanders bedside manner. he was professional and kind.

so, i thought i would just try to see if anyone on this site would have any thing else to offer about dr. sanders. i guess i need a little more hand-holding. i did not see him on the physician's list for california on this site. thanks for any help on this.

again, thanks for all the info here.

john

[Pat Walter]

Hello

Welcome to Hip Talk.  It is great that at least some surgeons are recommending hip resurfacing since you are very young.

I will tell you that I have done this website for 4 years and been involved in learning about resurfacing for 5 years. The most important lesson to be learned is to use a hip resurfacing surgeon that is very experienced.  I use 100 for a surgeon to be on my list, but I would recommend surgeons that have done 500, or 1000 or 2000+   It is a very diffiuclt surgery and it takes a great deal of experinced to be consistent. 

The retention rate of the BHR befor 2006 when it was done overseas was 99.9%   When the US surgeons started in 2006, they brought the stats down to 96%   That means 4 out of 100 people are having revisions or problems.  That is because the surgery is diffuclt and there is a steep learning curve. You need to use a surgeon that does a lot of them and often.  Not just a few now and then to make sure you are not one of the statistics.

The largest problem now are acetabular cups not being placed at the proper angle.  A misplaced cup will cause a large rise in metal ions and eventually a revision of the resurfacing to a THR.  Those are by far the most of the problems that are now occuring.  The surgeons learned that when they stared they did not realize the importance of the cup angle.  It is now extremely important.  I was at the 3rd annual hip resurfacing course for about 250 surgeons in Baltimore MD in Sept.  I did 11 surgeon interviews and you can listen to them voice their conerns for the less expeirnced surgeons and their acetabular cup placements.

Take time and listent to the experts talks about the important factors in resurfacing. Listen to the top 9 videos on the list  http://www.surfacehippy.info/shvideos/videosdoctor.php  That will be an education for you.

Then go to my list of surgeons and choose a really experinced surgeon.  You are lucky to have a few in CA.  http://www.surfacehippy.info/listofdoctors.php  A surgeons personality and bedside manner are important - but more important is their experience after they cut you open to replace one of the two hips that you need to walk properly for the rest of your life.  This is very major surgery and I always suggest using the most expeirnced surgeons.  You can read hundreds of stories from patients of the top doctors  http://www.surfacehippy.info/hipstories.php

I wish you the best.  Ask questions of this group and ask lots of questions of the surgeons you are considering.  Here is a list to get you going  http://www.surfacehippy.info/questionsfordoctor.php

Pat

[wayne-0]

Hey John,
Have you asked Dr. Sanders how many resurfacing surgeries he has done on his own? If you haven't I would call his office to find that out because it is super important information to know when making your decision on a surgeon.

Wayne

[B.I.L.L.]

Hey John,
Have you asked Dr. Sanders how many resurfacing surgeries he has done on his own? If you haven't I would call his office to find that out because it is super important information to know when making your decision on a surgeon.

Wayne

I'll 2nd that.

[john51]

thanks guys. appreciate the replies.

yes, i asked dr. sanders how many hip's he's done (over 400).

i've also researched my hip options to death, so i am confident in my decision.

i posted because i'm hoping to find some people with first-hand experience with dr. sanders here.

anyone?

it is probably 'overkill' on my part at this point. dr. sanders is well respected by doctors and his patients in our area. i have spoken to several people who had their hips resurfaced by him and i heard not one complaint. i guess i'm just too curious and had to ask here. ;-)

thanks again for the responses.

john

[wayne-0]

Hey John,

If he has done 400 or so I think you shold be in fairly good hands. If you can't find anyone on this site that has dealt with dr. sanders you should call his office and ask if you could talk to some of his resurfacing patients .

Wayne

[B.I.L.L.]

thanks guys. appreciate the replies.

yes, i asked dr. sanders how many hip's he's done (over 400).

i've also researched my hip options to death, so i am confident in my decision.

i posted because i'm hoping to find some people with first-hand experience with dr. sanders here.

anyone?

it is probably 'overkill' on my part at this point. dr. sanders is well respected by doctors and his patients in our area. i have spoken to several people who had their hips resurfaced by him and i heard not one complaint. i guess i'm just too curious and had to ask here. ;-)

thanks again for the responses.

john

No such thing as "Overkill" when researching a surgeon. I'd ask him how he places the componets, the cup angle especially.  That seems to be the whole key on making these things last.  Sounds pretty good if he's done over 400 and youv'e talked to some happy patients of his.
I would be curious if he uses some kind of high tech method for checking the angles and alignment or does he "eyeball" it ?   It can't hurt to ask.....

[Pat Walter]

Hi

I am wondering how specific you were when you asked your questions of the surgeon.

Did you specifically ask:

How many hip resurfacings have you done?  Not including assisting other surgeons and not including hem-resurfacings? 

How many revisions have you had and why?

What device/s do you use and what do you suggest for my case.

What are my odds of getting a resurfacing and not a THR during surgery.  I don't want to wake up expecting a resurfacing and receiving a THR.

If he is going to do a "bait and switch" to a THR, find out what kind of THR he will use - MOM or ceramic on ceramic or old fashioned small ball plastic/metal THR.

This information is critical to making a good decision about having a hip resurfacing.  Many less expeirnced surgeons will bait and switch - end up doing a THR instead of a resurfacing because the surgery looks too diffiuclt. 

When you can't find out any information about a doctor other than "he is great" according to the community - that is not enough for hip resurfacing.  I have often heard how wonderful one of our local orths is and he wanted to give me a small ball metal/plastic THR.  He is one of the worst surgeons in the area doing many loose knees and unsucessful hips - yet everyone thinks he is great.  Most people think of doctors as gods. They are not.  So don't just go by community opinion - they know nothing of a surgeons hip resurfacing skill.  The only way of know about that is to ask the sugeon specific questions and talk to 3 or 4 of their  hip resurfacing patients.  They should be happy to let you talk to former hip resurfacing patients.

You only have 2 hips and you can't be too careful in planning major surgery.  If you don't mind ending up with a revision or a THR, then it is not important.  If you really want a resurfacing, then do your homework and go the extra mile.  I have read many stories of people waking up in tears after finding out they received a THR or now need a revision because their doctor did not place their acetabular cup properly.  I receive the bad news on a daily basis.  If you want to make sure you send me a happy story - find out all you can.

Pat

[stevel]

Verify that he has done 400 or more total hip resurfacings rather than total hip replacements.  Find out the number and type of total hip resurfacing devices.  You are very close to Dr. Amstutz and Dr. Schmalzried in LA.  They are definitely experienced hip resurfacing surgeons and should be your first choice for an uncomplicated or unremarkable recovery and beyond.

[Barbara]

[/quote]
No such thing as "Overkill" when researching a surgeon. I'd ask him how he places the componets, the cup angle especially.  That seems to be the whole key on making these things last.  Sounds pretty good if he's done over 400 and youv'e talked to some happy patients of his.
I would be curious if he uses some kind of high tech method for checking the angles and alignment or does he "eyeball" it ?   It can't hurt to ask.....
[/quote]

BILL is there a high tech method for checking angles? I'm interested as I'm having a revision in a few weeks due to a loose cup.
Barbara

[B.I.L.L.]

No such thing as "Overkill" when researching a surgeon. I'd ask him how he places the componets, the cup angle especially.  That seems to be the whole key on making these things last.  Sounds pretty good if he's done over 400 and youv'e talked to some happy patients of his.
I would be curious if he uses some kind of high tech method for checking the angles and alignment or does he "eyeball" it ?   It can't hurt to ask.....
[/quote]

BILL is there a high tech method for checking angles? I'm interested as I'm having a revision in a few weeks due to a loose cup.
Barbara
[/quote]

I don't really know what different methods are available but I thought Iv'e read where some surgeons use gps tchnology ?  X-Rays inside the operating room etc.   I asked the Dr. who wanted to re-do mine at the 6 month mark and he said he eyeballs it against an x-ray and the counts how many dimples should stick out past the pelvic bone. He works in the same office as the Dr. who put mine in at 65 degrees
Talking to him was one of the deciding factors in my decision to let it ride a few years and see how it goes.  I know you posted it somewhere but I forgot, How long did yours last and what was your cup angle (if you know) and was that the reason for the loose cup ?, just curious...

 

[stevel]

Hey BILL,

You can click on Barbara's profile and review her recent posts for information regarding the loose cup.

I agree that knowledge is power when deciding on a doctor.

You can review prior posts regarding patient's experience with doctors - good or bad - by using the search command on this website and others.

I reviewed data for Dr. Bose, Dr. DeSmet and Dr. Amstutz at their respective websites where they posted the results of a significant number of hip resurfacing surgeries and any complications.

[B.I.L.L.]

Hey BILL,

You can click on Barbara's profile and review her recent posts for information regarding the loose cup.

I agree that knowledge is power when deciding on a doctor.

You can review prior posts regarding patient's experience with doctors - good or bad - by using the search command on this website and others.

I reviewed data for Dr. Bose, Dr. DeSmet and Dr. Amstutz at their respective websites where they posted the results of a significant number of hip resurfacing surgeries and any complications.

Thanks Steve

[mike46]

If anyone can help me here it would be appreciated. I am scheduled to get the birmingham procedure on both hips. my right will be done in July.  I am going to DR. Don P. Sanders in torrance. does anyone have any information on him, or any success stories you can share?

[Pat Walter]

Hi Mike

As I explained above, after doing my website for almost 5 years and reading hundreds and hundreds of personal stories and interview most of the expiernced hip resurfacing surgeons - Dr. Sanders is not a surgeon I have hear of.  Hip resurfacing is a very diffiuclt surgery and the most important point is to choose a surgoen that has done 500 resurfacings or much better yet - a 1000 or more.  There have been some problems with resurfacing and a lot of misplaced acetabular cups. This has most often been from the inexpeirnced surgeons.  The way to make sure you have the best outcome is to choose a really expiernced surgeon.  You can see them on my list  http://www.surfacehippy.info/listofdoctors.php  You can see the most expiernced surgeons near CA.  Most of us have not been able to use local surgeons since there are not that many - we traveled to get a resurfacing and have the best outcome we could.  Don't settle for a local orthopedic because he/she is close to you.  Ask how many resurfacings they have done.  If they won't tell you - run away from their office. Ask how many revisions and how many infections they have had of their resurfacings.  As for other patients phone numbers and talk to them. 

If you take time to read the revision stories and bad outcomes - you will normally find they are from the inexpeirnced surgeons.  So take your health into your own hands and contact the top surgoens, don't rely on locals.  If they are not really expeirnced, they also often just tend to switch to a THR during surgery if it looks diffiuclt.  That has happend a number of times and the patients are very upset.

Pat