How to Pick a Good Surgeon

Srinath Kamineni¹*, Eric Abbenhaus¹, David Kirn², Vikas Dhawan¹ and Rick Papandrea³

Received: August 27, 2019;   Published: September 16, 2019

DOI: 10.32474/OSMOAJ.2019.03.000153

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Abstract

A shoulder surgeon has a shoulder injury and requests a specific shoulder surgeon colleague to operate. Instead, the patient is sent to an expert shoulder surgeon with an international reputation who delivers many lectures and writes numerous papers and book chapters. Surgery is performed but the shoulder gets infected and the overall result is unsatisfactory. After a legal challenge, the patient is allowed to go to the surgeon originally requested based on the patient’s own insights into the profession. Revision surgery is performed and iatrogenic damage is discovered from the first surgery. However, the result of this revision surgery is good. This anecdotal case contains many aspects of healthcare decision making, control, and culpability which will be further elucidated here.

Keywords: Picking a Surgeon; Good Surgeon

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