Questions on choosing a surgeon

[Rock_Robster]

Alright team... I’d like to pick you brains with a couple of quick questions on choosing surgeons, if I may.

1. For my liver resection, I’m very happy with my choice of surgeon so far. He does around 50 of these per year, and another 100 pancreas surgeries. I know a choosing a high-volume surgeon is important - would you consider this “high”? It sounds like a lot to me but it’s hard to find research data on this.

2. For the rectal resection (ULAR), I have narrowed down the general choice between two surgeons:

a) a younger (max 40, probably less), very energetic guy who is up with all the latest tech (wants to do robot-assist, trans-anal, etc.), and is doing high volumes in a large cancer centre and making a name for himself; or

b) a very experienced (60+) surgeon who no longer does the volumes but has probably seen everything before (and wants to do a more traditional open surgery, perhaps lapro-assisted)

Worth noting that although I’m in Australia, both are also USA board-certified colorectal surgeons. Also for now my question is more about the choice of surgeon than the type of procedure (eg open vs robot vs lapro), although I realise this is also an important question to answer.

For those that have been through this (or anyone else who’d like to comment), which way would you lean, and are there any other major factors I should be considering?

Thanks!

[O Stoma Mia]

I have not been through what you are going through right now, so I don't have any particularly relevant comments to make. However, I ran across an article on rectal cancer surgery that you might be interested in reading:

https://fightcolorectalcancer.org/blog/what-to-expect-when-rectal-surgery-is-around-the-corner/

[del]

They both sound like good surgeons. 40 does sound a little young, but I do think I’d opt for the robotic surgery if you’re a candidate. It will result in a much shorter recovery time and lower risk of complications. It will also reduce your DVT risk, which I see you’ve already had once.

By the way, the equivalent of board-certified surgeons in Australia is the Colorectal Surgical Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSSANZ). You can look up surgeons by name here to check that they are certified:
https://www.cssanz.org/

[heiders33]

I think you will actually be good with either surgeon. My colon and rectal surgeon was more like the older one you describe (although he did it laparoscopically), while my liver surgeon was much more like the younger one. They both did an excellent job. Ask them both about litigation of the bowel during laparoscopic surgery and its risk for LARS (search litigation in this forum). It does seem like the type of surgery is going to be a big factor in your decision. Good luck!

[O Stoma Mia]

I think you will actually be good with either surgeon. My colon and rectal surgeon was more like the older one you describe (although he did it laparoscopically), while my liver surgeon was much more like the younger one. They both did an excellent job. Ask them both about litigation of the bowel during laparoscopic surgery and its risk for LARS (search litigation in this forum). It does seem like the type of surgery is going to be a big factor in your decision. Good luck!

I think the word you mean is ligation, not litigation.

https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/search.php?keywords=ligation&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

[Rock_Robster]

Thanks all for the advice!

And good suggestion del re the DVT - I’ll definitely ask the surgeons about this and what’s best to prevent it. My first was because my port catheter migrated to my opposite shoulder, and I’m now on anticoagulants but I’d really rather not have another one!