Dr Luiz Pimenta BRAZIL

[Katie]

Mark, do you not think that traveling to the hospital that he operates in south of San Diego would be as good? This is a very sincere question as both my husband and I are questioning the reasons to travel to Brazil vs a closer location.

I was afraid that I was throwing away an opportunity to see him in Tijuana in the next couple of weeks, but when I spoke to them today his office staff in Brazil reassured me that he is there on a regular basis. I am really torn. I think that late February or March would work much better for me in either location.

He hasn't received my MRI CD yet, so can't even give me a solid diagnosis. As soon as we have that in place, I can make more plans.

Thanks again for the help, and I welcome any input as always.

[mark-Perth]

Hi Katie

Surgery closer to home would always be alot better just from the travel perspective alone. Thats definately not the best when you are in pain but traveling business class fixes most problems.
There would definately be some other advantages of surgery in the US with the language but there would be several major disadvantages as well.
Those being that all surgery in the US would have to be FDA approved. I can immagine that would prohibit alot of the hardware available in Brasil or Tijuana which may be of benifit to you now. That will be something that I would discuss further with them when they have your scans and have thought of the possible options for U.
Also the hospital costs in the US I would immagine would be alot more than Brasil.
You can only ask the cost difference and see if its worth travelling the extra distance.
If insurance is covering the surgery I would probably have surgery closer to home in the US.
For me it was just as far to travel to the US as Brasil but I preferred to have surgery at his main hospital with his regular team. I just thought that would be a better choice and felt safer there.
I was definately alittle concerned before I went over there but that was more to do with how easy he was to deal with and organise the surgery but it was exactly how he said.
That was even more amazing considering they dont deal with that many OS patients.
Hopefully some pain relief is coming your way
Mark

[Katie]

Thanks for that. From what I understand, he is just recommending that I fly into San Diego and drive the half hour to Tijuana for surgery. He is still working on a price for there vs. Brazil.

So if anything, the price may be less in Mexico than in Brazil. As long as the facilities are up to snuff, I guess there would be no reason to travel so far away. Apparently he is away from his home clinic almost as much as he is there, so I hope his alternate team would be as good. Fingers crossed!

Any other advice?

[Cindylou]

Katie, just my two cents, but I would definitely want to know more about the Tijuana facilities before I booked anything there. Something about Mexico for such major surgery scares me, irregardless of the surgeon. That could just be me. But remember, peace of mind is golden. If it were me, I would go to Brazil. Plus, Mark has been to the Brazil facility. Again, just me.

[Katie]

I'm tending to agree with you, CL. Just thinking of the longer flight and possible cheaper rate at Tijuana is all.

One of my best friends was really excited about a possible trip to Brazil. She is on board to help me get around there if I want the extra hands It's nice to know friends are so generous (no matter what their ulterior motives)

I am just waiting for Dr. P's feedback when he gets my MRIs. It's seeming to take a long time for him to receive them, but perhaps it's just anticipation on my part.

[herniated C6-7]

Does anyone know how experienced Dr. Pimenta is with ADR? How many disc replacements has he done? I had been thinking of going to Germany for srugery because the doctors there seem by far the most exerienced, but if Dr. Pimenta has similar experience I would have to reconsider.

[KBear]

Does anyone know how experienced Dr. Pimenta is with ADR? How many disc replacements has he done? I had been thinking of going to Germany for srugery because the doctors there seem by far the most exerienced, but if Dr. Pimenta has similar experience I would have to reconsider.

The poster right above your post, Katie, had surgery with Dr. Pimenta in March of this year. You can click on her name and send her a private message or wait for her to pop in on here to give you more information.

[RLMIAMI]

A surgeon I saw in the Miami told me that Dr Pimenta does the second most surgeries in the world, the most number of surgeries are done by Dr Gueyer. Pimenta and Gueyer were ready to do surgery on me without any delays, while the surgeon from Miami insisted that surgery will no help me. I was desperate but I'm not a fool, I took his advise and took the surgical option of the table. by the way, I'm doing great!.

[herniated C6-7]

Surgical experience is one thing. Experience with ADR is another. Dr. Guyer may do the greatest number of spine surgeries in the world. But I doubt that he does the most ADR surgeries because so few US insurance cos. will cover ADR.

I had thought that the German surgeons were the most experienced with ADR. But I see that Dr. Pimenta did the first posterior ADR anywhere and the device co. presumably chose him because of his surgical experience and skill.

[Katie]

Dr. Pimenta actually was instrumental in the design of several ADRs, fusion devises and surgical approaches. While I still don't have the exact numbers of how many ADRs he has done in his 28 yrs of practice, I do know that he has successfully done ADR surgery on a close to 90 yr old woman. So age is obviously not an issue.

I do remember numbers of well over a thousand being discussed during the pre-op interview. I tried to play the recorded conversation from that meeting, but I think it was accidentally erased...hubby will have to try and sort it out.

Dr. P very generously gave me two books, one a text book on the XLIF meant as a medical publication which shows every step of the surgeries, including some very complicated ones of scoliosis..not ADR in that one, but many that do show the procedures. The second is a book documenting the stories from a number of patients, both with Dr. P and several others.

He also has access to a number of ADR devices that are not yet available here in North America. We spent a great deal of time talking to him before we left for Brazil, before surgery in his office as well as post-op. There is not an ounce of ego in the man. He is very humble and happy to answer every question both my husband and I had...he insisted on it before proceeding to surgery. No other surgeon other than Dr. Bitan in NYC showed that kind of interest and compassion, and I had contacted over a dozen. The surgeon from India, Dr. Kulkarni was also quite good and I would trust him as well.

Dr. Pimenta has been very busy with patients from all over the world, and seems to be just getting known in North America. During the three weeks we were there, he traveled to New Guinea for surgery, plus one other country. He runs a very organized efficient office which works like clockwork. I occasionally had difficulty in getting a response from his assistant Rafael, but it turned out that he was traveling at the time. Dr. Pimenta answered me personally when I ran into any problems with the process.

I think most North Americans are traveling to Germany because of the advertising with medical tourism, something that Dr. P. has not branched out into. Not that there is anything wrong with the European system...it helps patients find surgeons not available at home. Most of us that travel pay out of our own pockets after exhausting ourselves with insurance battles. Dr. P is much less expensive than others I contacted and that was the only reason I could afford to go. Price did not reflect the quality of work though, not by a long shot.

I would be happy to speak to you directly if you have other questions, and I'll keep digging for the information I'm sure I have somewhere