annie1, I don't think you can trust the reviews either way. I always read them, anyway. I'd be wary if there were three such negative reviews of a surgeon, but it could be one person three time as angry as his other patients. Or someone who had never had surgery but is angry for a personal reason.
Some surgeons have higher ratings because they refuse more difficult cases. Some have lower success rates because they want to give a difficult cases a chance.
I think private offices sometimes cull responses. Bigger institutions are more likely to have real patient reviews because they only request reviews from patients after surgery.
I trust the recommendations on this site.
I hope you find someone extremely skilled.