I may need surgery on one of my fingers. Has anyone had a good experience with a local hand doctor?

Aggies76 said:

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I may need surgery on one of my fingers. Has anyone had a good experience with a local hand doctor?

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Dr. Randy Gibbs. Great!

Isn't Gibbs the only one in town? We used him a few years ago and liked him.

Have had a couple of friends go with Brian Seabolt and they have been pleased

Thanks everyone!

Scott Conant at BSW. Fellowship trained

Love Seabolt

Seabolt did my wrist. Good guy.

Neal Hoganson is who my MD friend used.

I've seen Hoganson for a dislocated finger and really liked him.

Thanks for all the replies!

I realize that you asked for local and this guy isn't but I had a freak injury happen this summer and Dr. Henry was absolutely amazing from the first appointment through the surgery. So I am throwing his name out there for both you and anyone else who may look back on this thread.


https://houstonhandandwrist.com/

Seabolt or Iero, you can't go wrong!

Randy Gibbs MD. BCS Hand.

aggiesed8r said:

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Scott Conant at BSW. Fellowship trained

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Hoganson also did a hand fellowship.

Basically plastics is better than ortho where hands are concerned and I can speak from personal experience.

dubi said:

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aggiesed8r said:

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Scott Conant at BSW. Fellowship trained

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Hoganson also did a hand fellowship.

Basically plastics is better than ortho where hands are concerned and I can speak from personal experience.

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Currently seeing Hoganson, and the non-surgical therapies are working quite well. When surgery time comes I'll trust his expertise.

Dr Peterson with chi did my thumb. 2 weeks in on pt but so far seeing good progress. Sliced the extensor tendon clean through trimming a brisket.....buy cutting gloves folks

Frisco said:

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Dr Peterson with chi did my thumb. 2 weeks in on pt but so far seeing good progress. Sliced the extensor tendon clean through trimming a brisket.....buy cutting gloves folks

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Be wary of this referral.

Why?

Seabolt

Dr Evan Collins at Houston Methodist. He is the head of hand surgery there in their ortho dept and only does elbow down, hands / wrists. No knees, shoulders etc. He did my surgery in Nov and has been excellent.

I saw two hand specialists in BCS and received grossly misdiagnosed surgical suggestions including a wrist replacement (which I did not need).

Great info here. Thanks again!

Wrist replacement is a thing???

WTM said:

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Dr Evan Collins at Houston Methodist. He is the head of hand surgery there in their ortho dept and only does elbow down, hands / wrists. No knees, shoulders etc. He did my surgery in Nov and has been excellent.

I saw two hand specialists in BCS and received grossly misdiagnosed surgical suggestions including a wrist replacement (which I did not need).

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Who recommended a wrist replacement?

Yes please explain

I will say my wrist replacement rec9mmendation came through S&W. I was sent through all kinds of tests including a 4 month wait for a nerve conduction test (to test for carpal tunnel). I had to go to Temple for that test.

When the pain was in the palm / base of thumb and they said a wrist replacement would address it I went to Houston.

Collins diagnosed it immediately on the first visit based on the way I described the pain and explained most can get by without surgery, just injections. Imageing showed the bone deteriorated and no cartillage and the shots did not help so we opted for surgery after a while.

WTM said:

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I will say my wrist replacement rec9mmendation came through S&W. I was sent through all kinds of tests including a 4 month wait for a nerve conduction test (to test for carpal tunnel). I had to go to Temple for that test.

When the pain was in the palm / base of thumb and they said a wrist replacement would address it I went to Houston.

Collins diagnosed it immediately on the first visit based on the way I described the pain and explained most can get by without surgery, just injections. Imageing showed the bone deteriorated and no cartillage and the shots did not help so we opted for surgery after a while.

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I'm not sure I've ever heard of a "wrist replacement". Maybe you misunderstood, or it was poorly communicated, as an arthroplasty?
So, it was recommended you have surgery locally (or in Temple, I cannot tell from your post), but you chose to get a second opinion. You went into Houston, was told this problem could most likely be fixed without surgery, so you chose to stick with that surgeon because he seemed to understand your problem more thoroughly and quicker (of course, I assume you provided all the previous workup that was performed, so he didn't have to repeat it, but maybe not). But, in the end, you still had the wrist surgery, that was recommended in the first place, but had to deal with multiple trips into Houston for injections, then to have the treatment that was recommended originally in the first place? Sounds like you or your insurance ended up paying more for treatment that wasn't necessary and could have been performed locally in a more timely manner.
Regardless, I hope you have healed well and are fully functional again!

Hmm, greatest medical center in the world or Temple, TX???

Seems like a no-brainer.

maroon barchetta said:

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Hmm, greatest medical center in the world or Temple, TX???

Seems like a no-brainer.

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It was for us. When my kiddo was real sick several years ago, she was in S&W hospital here. They wanted to transfer her to Temple… I asked, "do y'all have pedi specialists for xxx?" Docs here, "No". Me: "You're transferring kiddo to Texas Children's, because I know they do."

Doc pulled me aside in the hallway- "I'm not supposed to say this, but you made the right choice."

csrealist said:

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I'm not sure I've ever heard of a "wrist replacement". Maybe you misunderstood, or it was poorly communicated, as an arthroplasty?
So, it was recommended you have surgery locally (or in Temple, I cannot tell from your post), but you chose to get a second opinion. You went into Houston, was told this problem could most likely be fixed without surgery, so you chose to stick with that surgeon because he seemed to understand your problem more thoroughly and quicker (of course, I assume you provided all the previous workup that was performed, so he didn't have to repeat it, but maybe not). But, in the end, you still had the wrist surgery, that was recommended in the first place, but had to deal with multiple trips into Houston for injections, then to have the treatment that was recommended originally in the first place? Sounds like you or your insurance ended up paying more for treatment that wasn't necessary and could have been performed locally in a more timely manner.
Regardless, I hope you have healed well and are fully functional again!

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Sorry if it was not clear, I thought it was, but apparently not.

Here at Scott & White I had countless tests including nerve conduction etc. to test for carpal tunnel etc. Basically throwing darts at a board. We wasted months trying to get appointments for tests. When all came back inconclusive, they wanted me to have a complete / total wrist arthroplasty which is commonly called a wrist replacement. Just like a knee, they use an internal prosthesis made of alloy and polythylene. Overall it is a very poor option for younger people as they are not durable and are prone to breakage. It was also unwarranted in this case.

No, NONE of my previous workup information was ever relayed to the Methodist system. I tried to get it sent over ahead of time on multiple occasions. I was told by the local office the test results from Temple would have to be sent by Temple. I requested them multiple times from Temple but they were never sent to Houston.

I went to Houston Methodist and instead of a battery of tests, and a drastic solution when a problem could not be pinpointed, Dr Collins knew exactly what was wrong and identified it as arthritis and joint deterioration. He suggested trying targeted injections before surgery and when I opted for surgery, the answer was an LRTI procedure (Ligament Reconstruction and Tendon Interposition) where they take out the damaged trapezium bone and then a buffer made with tendon taken from higher in the arm. A very common side effect of this surgery is a noticeably shortened thumb. I asked about it and he assured me that is a result of surgeons not taking their time to do it right. I do not have a shorter thumb.

In summary: College Station S&W surgeon could not figure out the issue in multiple visits with multiple tests in Temple and wanted a drastic procedure (a complete wrist replacement - google it, they exist) to cover all bases. Houston specialist identified the problem immediately on the first visit, tried to address it without surgery first (which works for 90% of cases), and then did a far less invasive procedure to remedy the issue.

Lots of good docs inside BSW here and elsewhere. The local hospital and its clinics encounter records inside EPIC are a black hole if you are not a BSW doctor on EPIC. It can take 3-6 months to get pertinent records in my experience and it all started back in the mid teens when they built the hospital and converted to EPIC. I have heard the same from doctors elsewhere who are on EPIC systems that aren't BSW. It's something about how they did their EPIC build I'm assuming.

I've gone to Dr. Collins. I'm convinced he is the best.

tbone94 said:

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I've gone to Dr. Collins. I'm convinced he is the best.

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I agree. Here is his bio on his website. There is no one locally who has a resume that comes close.

Dr. Collins' advanced patient care and research projects are internationally recognized. He is chief of the Houston Methodist Hand & Upper Extremity Center at the Texas Medical Center and the hand specialist for The Center for Performing Arts Medicine (CPAM). Prior to joining the faculty at Houston Methodist Hospital and accepting a faculty appointment at Weill Cornell Medical College, Dr. Collins was the director of the Hand Fellowship and Chief of the Hand and Upper Extremity department for many years at Baylor College of Medicine. He is today also an attending physician at First Street Surgical Center.

His work with sports injuries and degenerative conditions of the hand and upper extremity has lead to advances in arthroscopic surgery and other less invasive treatment options. Following an FDA-sanctioned study establishing Dr. Collins as a lead investigator to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a new electrohydraulic shockwave treatments for chronic tennis elbow, he opened the Tennis Elbow Institute and was named the same year among H Texas Magazine's "Top Docs." His new joint reconstruction procedure has changed the way small bone implants are addressed dramatically reducing recovery time for patients and earning him a spot among Texas Monthly's "Super Doctors."

Dr. Collins is dedicated to research, in an ongoing effort to provide the most effective techniques and treatment options to his patients, as well as preventative early diagnostic imaging protocol for the medical industry.
His research efforts continue to produce articles for publication and findings that are influencing current surgical and diagnostic practice and standard of care. His research findings on high-energy shockwave therapy in the treatment of chronic tennis elbow will be published this year in Techniques in Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery. And his latest book chapter, Volar Wedge Bone Grafting and Internal Fixation of Scaphoid Nonunuions, was published in Wiesel S. Operative Techniques in Orthopaedic Surgery Vol 4 (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins) 2010 edition.

Dr. Collins is often invited to present his latest research findings at both national and international scientific conferences including the annual meetings of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, the Congress of the Federation of European Societies for Surgery of the Hand (FESSH) and the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH). Early results from his ongoing study, Mesh Implant Arthroplasty for Treatment of Basilar Joint Arthritis, were presented for the first time at the 2008 annual meeting of the American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS).

Education and Certification
Dr. Collins moved his family to Houston from New York after graduating Cum Laude with a Doctor of Medicine and completing an orthopedic residency at the State University of New York Health and Science Center. He completed his Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, where he also worked as an assistant professor. His certification includes: Certified of Added Qualifications in Surgery of the Hand (CAQSH), the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, and the National Board of Medical Examiners. In 2013 he obtained his MBA from the Rice University, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business.

tbone94 said:

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I've gone to Dr. Collins. I'm convinced he is the best.

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Username maybe checks out.

Nice catch!