Major complications with LATN/LON

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QuoteCan you explain why Mahboubian would have been a good choice (apart from being local to you) based on your research?

I am not going to cheerlead for any particular surgeon.  I researched many surgeons the world-over and conclude that only a handful of top-level leg lengthening surgeons exist.  I am not going to set out a list of names because reasonable minds can disagree about who should be on the list.

What criteria did I consider to characterize a surgeon as top-level? 

In general, that the surgeon performs leg lengthening regularly (or exclusively); that is, that leg lengthening is a primary focus of the surgeon's practice.  That the surgeon also conducts research regarding leg lengthening and is published (books or peer-reviewed articles).  That the surgeon performs both medically necessary and elective leg lengthening.  That the surgeon has no public record of discipline or gross malpractice and is regulated by a professional body.  That the surgeon employs a team of qualified professionals.  That the surgeon practices in a first world country with modern facilities.

Though at the time Mahoubian was still a bit new to the game for my liking, Mahoubian ticked all of these boxes as did several other surgeons.

I ultimately decided as I did because, all other things being relatively equal, I could not come close to the value offered by the Solomin/Kulesh team.  But every potential patient must do his or her own analysis and draw his or her own conclusions.

Though I wrote that I was not going to cheerlead, I will add that I was concerned I would get to Russia and be disappointed.  The opposite happened.  Facilities were new and modern and I have never experienced such a high degree of medical expertise, thoughtfulness, and attention.

This is NOT to say that others may not be equally impressed by services offered in other first world countries--but I cannot speak to matters I did not experience.

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Quote from: California2 on December 07, 2019, 06:46:37 PM
What criteria did I consider to characterize a surgeon as top-level? 

In general, that the surgeon performs leg lengthening regularly (or exclusively); that is, that leg lengthening is a primary focus of the surgeon's practice.  That the surgeon also conducts research regarding leg lengthening and is published (books or peer-reviewed articles).  That the surgeon performs both medically necessary and elective leg lengthening.  That the surgeon has no public record of discipline or gross malpractice and is regulated by a professional body.  That the surgeon employs a team of qualified professionals.  That the surgeon practices in a first world country with modern facilities.

Though at the time Mahoubian was still a bit new to the game for my liking, Mahoubian ticked all of these boxes as did several other surgeons.

Good criteria. But Mahboubian doesn't satisfy all of them.

- surgeon performs leg lengthening regularly (or exclusively)
Yes Dr M does CLL regularly

- that is, that leg lengthening is a primary focus of the surgeon's practice
Yes Dr M primary focus is CLL

- That the surgeon also conducts research regarding leg lengthening and is published (books or peer-reviewed articles).
No, Dr M does not do this. I have found 0 examples of Dr M involved in research or lectures or books.

- That the surgeon performs both medically necessary and elective leg lengthening.
Not a whole lot of evidence on this one. Most of his work is branded as CLL and not deformity correction

- That the surgeon has no public record of discipline or gross malpractice and is regulated by a professional body
I guess Dr M is clean here

- That the surgeon employs a team of qualified professionals.
I dont know what you mean here. M operates alone and doesn't have a partner or right hand. Nor does he have a dedicated PT team. I believe Paley is an example of someone who employes a team of qualified professionals.


You have repeatedly multiple times that your words are not advice to anyone and one should do his own research. I agree. But I am just pointing the obvious contradiction with one surgeon. Dr M has the best diaries on the forum however.

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Quote from: California2 on December 07, 2019, 06:46:37 PM
What criteria did I consider to characterize a surgeon as top-level? 

In general, that the surgeon performs leg lengthening regularly (or exclusively); that is, that leg lengthening is a primary focus of the surgeon's practice.  That the surgeon also conducts research regarding leg lengthening and is published (books or peer-reviewed articles).  That the surgeon performs both medically necessary and elective leg lengthening.  That the surgeon has no public record of discipline or gross malpractice and is regulated by a professional body.  That the surgeon employs a team of qualified professionals.  That the surgeon practices in a first world country with modern facilities.

Though at the time Mahoubian was still a bit new to the game for my liking, Mahoubian ticked all of these boxes as did several other surgeons.

Good criteria. But Mahboubian doesn't satisfy all of them.

- surgeon performs leg lengthening regularly (or exclusively)
Yes Dr M does CLL regularly

- that is, that leg lengthening is a primary focus of the surgeon's practice
Yes Dr M primary focus is CLL

- That the surgeon also conducts research regarding leg lengthening and is published (books or peer-reviewed articles).
No, Dr M does not do this. I have found 0 examples of Dr M involved in research or lectures or books.

- That the surgeon performs both medically necessary and elective leg lengthening.
Not a whole lot of evidence on this one. Most of his work is branded as CLL and not deformity correction

- That the surgeon has no public record of discipline or gross malpractice and is regulated by a professional body
I guess Dr M is clean here

- That the surgeon employs a team of qualified professionals.
I dont know what you mean here. M operates alone and doesn't have a partner or right hand. Nor does he have a dedicated PT team. I believe Paley is an example of someone who employes a team of qualified professionals.


You have repeatedly multiple times that your words are not advice to anyone and one should do his own research. I agree. But I am just pointing the obvious contradiction with one surgeon. Dr M has the best diaries on the forum however.

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Quote from: limewalk on December 08, 2019, 04:53:26 AM- That the surgeon also conducts research regarding leg lengthening and is published (books or peer-reviewed articles).
No, Dr M does not do this. I have found 0 examples of Dr M involved in research or lectures or books.

Dr. Mahboubia did publish some papers, like this one:

https://www.hss.edu/files/LL-Femoral-Lengthening-with-Lengthening-over-a-Nail-has-Fewer-Complications-than-Intramedullary-Skeletal-Kinetic-Distraction.pdf

Not as much as Betz or Paley (they are the current CLL doctors with the most publications) but he did.

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thanks for  correcting me. I Think he wrote this while doing his training with Rozbruch.

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Here is a link to one journal article that Mahoubian wrote with Fragomen and Rozbruch: https://europepmc.org/article/pmc/pmc3293955#free-full-text.  (If the link does not work, please copy it; then, manually insert the link in your browser.)

I am confident you will find more evidence of research and scholarly articles from Mahoubian if you look for them.  I found others which is why I ticked this box regarding Mahoubian.

As for employing a team, I do not necessarily mean a team composed of other surgeons.  I mean primarily supporting professionals (like physical therapists) (though I mentioned in my diary that at one point in Russia I had 5 MDs working on me at the same time which I found to be very comforting if not just plain awe inspiring).  To clarify, I did not want to have surgery performed by a one man (or woman) show.

I think if you read some of the Mahoubian diaries, you will be comfortable that he is not a one man show.  That is, Mahoubian has ready relationships with other professionals who can address diverse situations that may arise.

But again, I am not trying to persuade you--only amplifying why he met my personal criteria for consideration to perform elective leg lengthening on me.  As you know, while Mahoubian did make my short list, I ultimately did not select him.

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Quote from: limewalk on December 07, 2019, 01:07:02 PMWith you on this Great321. Your diary is genuine and you seem like a logical person. I think you will recovery well. I also congratulate you for putting most of LL behind you which is a very difficult thing to start with.

I think it's a bit rude of the other poster to take problems faced by other LL doctor patients just to push a point about Dr Lee. May be it makes him feel optimistic about his decision to do LL if he ever actually does it.

Thank you limewalk! It's best to stay positive and optimistic during LL. I will continue writing about the problems I'll face even if some seem to be happy about it since it makes their own choice look better.