Dr Dimitrios Giotikas (Athens, Greece)

Quote from: Nestor on October 17, 2019, 03:25:29 PMThis is the first negative post I've read about Dr Giotikas, can anyone else back up these claims? I have Stryde surgery booked with Dr G, I'd rather not be going into it with any doubts.

Ask him TemakiSushi's concerns in previous posts. Does he take 3D x-ray? How does he prevent rotational deformity? Has his previous patients healed? Or you can have a consultation with Dr. Lee also and compare. I have not done so much research as you or Temaki have, but it maybe logical to do this.

Quote from: Nestor on October 17, 2019, 07:24:25 PMThanks man, best of luck to you too. I've researched him and his credentials seem solid, he also works for the NHS which is the main reason I chose him. I've read the diaries of his patients and they seem to be reasonably positive, although more diaries would be helpful. Always difficult to tell on these forums what is genuine and what isn't so who knows.

Hi Nestor, I agree with Daikioni, if you need more info,  better ask real patients who have been or are in Athens now, like Azman. Even then, I might add, filter out what is just their subjective perception of things.
They are certainly a better source of info compared to any unknown and potentially sinister mind here (with no expertise and no consequences to their advice). Don't let them poison your mind, especially if you are already on your way to the real thing. Many of them just envy and can be toxic, Zakika has already mentioned these things in the past and he was absolutely right imo.

For choosing a doctor, I've always wondered about something. There was a point in history where Dr. Paley or Mahoubian had less experience early in their careers. Eventually, a doctor gets enough experience and becomes a "safe" doctor in people's eyes, or at least one would hope. Its tough. The patients a young doctor takes early in his years have to know they are going with a less experienced doctor, though him being less experienced doesn't exactly mean he is malicious or unscrupulous.

I wish Dr. Paley would publish a book (maybe he already has) of a giant flowchart of things that a doctor should consider in every situation/how to handle or prevent various complications. He seems to go over alot of common mistakes/situations here (making too big of an incision, how to remove a broken nail quickly, etc ) though I imagine experienced LL doctors may have learned almost all of this during residencies already.

Yeah that's true every surgeon starts off with little experience but then builds a name for himself/herself, the only downside is you'd rather not be one of the guinea pigs for them to make mistakes on 😄

Ive watched some of that video before Paley makes some great points, like you mentioned you would imagine if we're aware of such things from a YouTube video then so would a practicing surgeon, or at least I'd hope!

I've spoken with Dr Giotikas, he comes across as very intelligent and ethical, I'm hoping he's a good choice.

Quote from: Nestor on October 21, 2019, 07:37:37 PMYeah that's true every surgeon starts off with little experience but then builds a name for himself/herself, the only downside is you'd rather not be one of the guinea pigs for them to make mistakes on 😄

Ive watched some of that video before Paley makes some great points, like you mentioned you would imagine if we're aware of such things from a YouTube video then so would a practicing surgeon, or at least I'd hope!

I've spoken with Dr Giotikas, he comes across as very intelligent and ethical, I'm hoping he's a good choice.

Tell us how it goes if you go with him! He seems to have left good impressions on people.

I just pray this man does not raise his prices

Quote from: Great321 on June 09, 2018, 03:21:11 PMI’ve had my consultation with Dr. Giotikas. Here are my thoughts about my experience in Athens in general before:

So to do surgery with Dr. Giotikas, someone would typically fly to his office in Greece to do the a consultation, and then a few months later would schedule a surgery and fly there again?

Quote from: Sara123 on December 08, 2018, 03:35:50 PMIt's a real face to face consultation, which will last approximately 45 minutes and it's here in London.

Oh? I hadn't thought about this at all. Is it typically cheaper in terms of flights/hotel the night before the consultation for say an American to do the consultation in London as opposed to Athens?

TemakiSushi, I hope you know Dr. Donghoon Lee also had pts with complications but they are posted in another language. A few comments was translated by a forum member, there were some pts with nerve damage and unable to feel their toes after removing fixators and problems still unresolved. He also forgot to do release surgery with another overseas patient who flied over again and wasted 10,000 more for surgery and flight. In Korea, countless pts died from operation related mistakes like wrong dosage of anesthesia and unqualified shadow doctors/nursing operating on others. Korea is adept at hiding their bad outcome data because of "face" and scaring away prospective cosmetic tourism. While I'm not saying it was at Dr. Donghoon's clinic but what is stopping these same types of workers/helpers coming from bad clinics and slipping into others? My point is having surgery in Korea with Dr. Donghoon is not some guaranteed outcome for everyone either.

And Dr. Donghoon has won surgeon awards by the way and I do think he is more legit than others operating in Asia but this shows alot can still go wrong regardless of anyone's reputation. It is up to each person to do their own research and make a personal choice. Your research is not necessarily better than somebody else's so let people make their own decision instead of bringing down this one doctor everywhere. You seem to have confirmational bias yourself with Donghoon being the only choice for others and an ax to grind with Giotikas. You are even bothered about where the man lives, which has nothing to do with whether he is a good surgeon or not. THAT is borderline obsessive. You have not done surgery with him and should not be giving advice contradicting his own pts satisfied postings about their OWN outcome and progress.

Btw, suddenurge's situation is unfortunate but remember it was another surgeon's mistakes another doctor is given to work with. We don't know extent of damage already from the delayed response from first doctor in Turkey. Giotikas likely did not want to put patient through more trauma with reinsertion of another device. The pt reported the grafting and result is not done yet so we are unclear of his situation. What Giotikas should of done in my opinion was offer the patient two options to choose from: TSF and the other option that he did instead. Patient should of demanded TSF for its track record in fixing misalignment and go to the Dr who will do it. If Dr. Giotikas refused, then he should not go to him, which is not the case that any of this occurred. There is no x-rays or followup from poster, we don't know what went on exactly to judge. To be fair to Dr. Giotikas.

In a surgery like this, alot can go wrong, even a great surgeon may not have 100% perfect results, on the contrary you want to choose a dr that takes precautions and mitigate any undesirable outcome. That is why I listed those Drs from their respective regions as the top, this is in comparison to the others/peers that do not have their varied experience and trauma surgery credentials.

Hi Cobalt
Thanks for complications info about Dr Lee
Could you give me the site URL of the nerve damage case, toes numbness?, you are taking about
I know Dystonia like case in which one toe is keep moving but never immobile, Dr Lee himself explained about the case

Anesthesia accidents most happened at small cosmetic clinics where anesthesiologist is not present at surgery and only surgeon and nurses are in charge of monitoring anesthesia while doing surgery
On contrary, Dr Lee’s hospital has resident anesthesiologist

According to the patients I’ve contacted, yes superficial Skin numbness is quite common especially among external and last like a year in some case.  This skin numbness, I don’t  worry much as long as it’s not making damage like a dropfoot

Release not done case, could you also refer me to the site, if it’s not the case in the forum?
From what I’ve known, some years ago Dr Lee didn’t do IT band release in some cases
Now it’s confirmed for femurs he does IT band release routinely
Bicep tendons only in cases hamstrings are extremely tight
Gastrocnemius fascia release, only in some cases it’s done
it seems it doesn’t need to be done if ankles aren’t too tight
These practices are just like Paley
I’ve never heard of preventive nerve decompression cases with Donghoon
It was done on OYG by Paley

BTW I never expect any CLL doctor to be 100% safe
Still certainly some doctors have much higher rate of complications than others
Also most patients never write a thing about their experience here.
If there are already quite a bit of complications or dangerous treatments are revealed here, that means there are lot more complications hidden behind this forum
Even those who write diaries here, many hide crucial facts

There are too many readers who only rely on this forum and have too optimistic views of certain doctors, especially those doctors who newly entered into CLL field

There have been guiniepigs, then after some cases there are stories of devastating experiences
This kind of history is repeated  just too many times here
Look at what’s been happening in India, China, Armenia, Russia, Uklaina,Germany, Spain, Italy etc etc
People don’t need to hide negative information
Why you wanna hear only good things about the doctor you are interested in?
It’s way better to estimate the risks before the surgery is done
Some do surgery without having extra funds
If they’ve known the risks they could have prepared for it
How much will they loose if they cannot walk normally for two years, living without income
Some come from the country which doesn’t provide enough health welfare

Also, many CLL doctors or their staff are reading this site
It should be good for them to learn here to provide better treatments