Request For Knee Surgeon Referral

[quadricorrelator]

Greetings,

I am looking for a good surgeon to do a keyhole operation to smooth out ragged cartilage in my knee. Are there any recommendations for doctors in Bangkok? My primary concern is getting the best possible results (with the least medical risk) since my knee condition is greatly affecting my mobility and my life.

How do I determine the competence of the anethstesiologist for the operation? I think this must be the most dangerous part of the operation. What are the statistics in Thailand for death or brain damage as a result of such mistakes.

Thanks,

-q

[ronz28]

Not quite on point but this article is very recent and your procedure is probably conducted at the same hospital.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-...mple-actually-1

[kuffki]

Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok, there is a surgeon name Dr. Pornthep Mamanee http://www.bangkokhospital.com/App/doctorp...&Lang=en-US

He does only shoulder and knees. he is suppose to be one of the best doctors in Asia.

I personally had shoulder surgery with him, total cost including hospital was just over 200K baht.

Surgery went well, he also works with great Anesthesiologist doctor that used an amazing method for after surgery recovery. Basically prior to surgery he inject novacane into a nurve, so when you wake up after surgery you are 100% numb for 1-3 days, which means no need for any pain killers, which mean you can eat and function normally and feel great. By the time novocane wears off, the "main" pain is gone so you recover really very well.

HOWEVER: You must be aware that doctors in Thailand are not responsible or can be held accountable for anything.

My surgery went well, however i had complications caused either by the surgery or physio. Surgeon agreed that something went wrong, but refused to rectify it free and offered to fix with only 10% discount.

So he screwed up but you pay.

I did speak with approx 50 law firms and once they heard Bangkok Hospital all refused to take on the case-so keep that in mind. One foreigner lawyer off the record advised me that even if i ever find a law firm to take on the case, i will never win, because Thai doctor is poor while i am rich foreigner. In his words, in over 10 years of working in Thailand, he never saw foreigner win medical case against Thai hospital or doctor.

His advise was to fly back home and have it fixed there.

But bottom line is your decision. i will say again, that this doctor is in top 3 South East Asia for shoulder and knee. Prior to my surgery i did see another 9 surgeons in 5 hospitals, but found this guy to be most knowledgable with fluent English.

If you want/need more info or just want to have a chat about surgery or things, just pm me.

[Sheryl]

Quite a few TV members have given very positive feedback on Dr. Panya at Bumrungrad. http://www.bumrungrad.com/overseas-medical...r-a-doctor.aspx

Other doctors who have been positively mentioned with regard to knee surgery are

Sao Paolo General Hospital on Srinarikin - Dr. Opas (trained in Germany)

Queen Sirikit Naval Hospital near Saattahip - Dr. Narmonn

You could also PM ComeHome as her husband had knee surgery in Bkk, forget where/which doctor

[quadricorrelator]

Thank you kuffki and Sheryl for the information. I will pursue these leads.

-q

[fredlaw]

i had a total knee replacement in 2005 at Vejthani hospital in BKK. i know they do knees, shoulders and hips. i could not have ask for anything better. i have had no pain nor any other complications from my surgery. in addition, i know in the US that a knee replacement will last only about 10 years. my knee is expected to last 35, however i will be dead long before that. my surgery was done on monday night and i was walking wednesday morning and have not stopped yet. i was in the hospital for 8 days and the entire bill was less than $7,000 US. to check my doctors name just sign in to Vejthani hospital and research patients comments and u will find fred ledbetter and others. they are the best!! moreinformation u may PM

[Comehome]

Q, you have a PM!

/comehome

Hi!

My husband had an accident and twisted his knee badly this summer. He stepped on some bricks(?) on the main shopping road here and one of them fell down.

We went to the island hospital but the doctor wasn't very good. We were sent home every week with new medication and the advice to rest and take it easy.

After two weeks my husband woke up in the middle of the night with severe pain and his knee was swollen. We rushed to the hospital in the morning and REQUIRED and MRI scan.

They don't have the MRI-equippment on the island so we had to go to Bangkok to do it.

The insurance company were lovely with us. They made sure they would pay for the MRI-scan in Bkk and they did.

My husband was admitted at Bumrungrad hospital and Dr.Panya performed the surgery.

We stayed two nights because my husband could not walk the first day. He had some physiotherapy and after two nights he could walk for himself.

Before surgery he was asked what kind of anesthesia he wanted. He chose the spinal anesthesia. We don't know much about anesthesia but i guess that was good.

We were lucky to have insurance. The insurance company payed for most of the expenses( MRI, surgery and hospital stay ) but we had to pay a little ourselves too but that was ok.

According to Dr.Panya and the DVD-movie from the surgery he gave us, my husbands cartilage behind the kneecap is totally worn out and he needs some sort of cartilage transplant to be able to do sports again.

He has been very active in sports all his life but have never had any problems with his knees or other injuries.

Now the accident definately put an end to his sports career which is very sad for us.

Dr.Panya say he will not put in an artifficial knee because he says that is only for old people and not for my husband.

So this is the status at the moment.

Thanks for your time and take care,

/comehome and family

Edited November 16, 2009 by Comehome

[MrWiggle]

Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok, there is a surgeon name Dr. Pornthep Mamanee http://www.bangkokhospital.com/App/doctorp...&Lang=en-US

He does only shoulder and knees. he is suppose to be one of the best doctors in Asia.

I personally had shoulder surgery with him, total cost including hospital was just over 200K baht.

Surgery went well, he also works with great Anesthesiologist doctor that used an amazing method for after surgery recovery. Basically prior to surgery he inject novacane into a nurve, so when you wake up after surgery you are 100% numb for 1-3 days, which means no need for any pain killers, which mean you can eat and function normally and feel great. By the time novocane wears off, the "main" pain is gone so you recover really very well.

HOWEVER: You must be aware that doctors in Thailand are not responsible or can be held accountable for anything.

My surgery went well, however i had complications caused either by the surgery or physio. Surgeon agreed that something went wrong, but refused to rectify it free and offered to fix with only 10% discount.

So he screwed up but you pay.

I did speak with approx 50 law firms and once they heard Bangkok Hospital all refused to take on the case-so keep that in mind. One foreigner lawyer off the record advised me that even if i ever find a law firm to take on the case, i will never win, because Thai doctor is poor while i am rich foreigner. In his words, in over 10 years of working in Thailand, he never saw foreigner win medical case against Thai hospital or doctor.

His advise was to fly back home and have it fixed there.

But bottom line is your decision. i will say again, that this doctor is in top 3 South East Asia for shoulder and knee. Prior to my surgery i did see another 9 surgeons in 5 hospitals, but found this guy to be most knowledgable with fluent English.

If you want/need more info or just want to have a chat about surgery or things, just pm me.

This info should be made more public around the world and it would do wonders to the 'medical holidays' section of the tourism sector.

I can second the reco for panya at Bumgrab, but found his after sales ervice not so endearing....luckily I did not need much

[quadricorrelator]

Thank you for your recommendations and replies. They have been very helpful for me and I have seen some of the doctors that have been recommended.

I will report back with my own experiences so I can also add to the pool of information about hospitals and knee surgeons.