Partial gluteus medius and minimus tears - surgical outcomes?

Hello @tamigl,

I moved your post into it's own discussion topic titled:

"Partial gluteus medius and minimus tears - surgical outcomes?"
-https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/partial-gluteus-medius-and-minimus-tears-surgical-outcomes

I'd like to invite @sugarbaker, @weevilone, and @jlklms to share a bit more about their surgery outcomes for their gluteus tears. I'd also like to invite @egray8666 to share how they are doing after their surgery which they mentioned was scheduled for August 11th.

@JustinMcClanahan Thank you for reaching out. Today is 4 weeks post op surgery for the gluteal tendon tears. Still on a walker at least for the next 2 weeks. Follow up with ortho surgeon on September 16. Not sure if repair has been successful yet because of the ongoing pain at the surgical site. Presume I’ll know more next week at the doctor appointment. Very long and difficult recovery though, but really had no choice.

Has anyone had Dr. Timothy Bert in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area perform a repair of their partial gluteus medius and/or minimis tear(s)? If so, how is your outcome and are you glad you had him do it? Thank you so much for your response.

I have not. We are blessed in greater Phoenix with a number of really excellent hip and knee surgeons and a few incredible ones.

The incredible ones that I am familiar with are the ones at the Mayo Clinic Phoenix and my surgeon Jimmy Chow. I do not know of Dr. Bert specifically but his CV looks good. He practices out of a hospital that does not have a great reputation but so does my surgeon. Before I went in for surgery I asked Dr. Chow about this and he said that he hears that often but he works out of the outpatient center and I would only be dealing with him and his staff.

I think that Abrazzo Scottsdale (a misnomer since it is well outside of Scottsdale) has so many good surgeons working out of it because it has invested in the newest technology. I know it has both the Mako and CORI robots that are used for knee surgery and Navio navigation as well as others. I would imagine that Dr. Bert also operates out of the outpatient center (there are at least two operating rooms there because my surgeon normally runs two -- one to operate in and one to clean up and prepare for the next one).

If you can't go to Mayo (they are overloaded and do not take all requests ) and don't want to use my surgeon (because he doesn't accept Medicare nor most insurance) Dr. Bert looks like a good choice. Hopefully you will hear from others about Dr. Bert.

I discussed knee surgeons one time with Dr. Chow and his most important criteria in looking for a surgeon is that the surgeon selected has extensive experience doing THE EXACT SAME PROCEDURE. I think this is good advice and applies to your anticipated surgery as well. If Dr. Bert has extensive experience doing exactly what you need, he looks like a good candidate. But make sure you ask the question.

There are other considerations as well. Can you be treated minimally invasively with an endoscope or do you need open surgery? Would both work equally well? If you would qualify for endoscopic treatment, do you prefer that? Endoscopic surgery is more difficult than open surgery so you need a lot of experience in your surgeon if that is your preference. Open surgery is more likely to be completely successful but has a tougher and longer recovery.

I will give you an example. I have been diagnosed with cubital and carpal tunnel syndromes. The nerve conduction study found that my carpal tunnel problem was pretty severe but my cubital was moderate. There are two surgeons in greater Phoenix that take turns being ranked best hand surgeon: Dr. Donald Sheridan who operates out of the Honor Health facilities and Dr. Shelley Noland at the Mayo Clinic. Many years ago I had used Dr. Sheridan for my son and he was terrific. So I went to him and told him that I was afraid of general anesthesia and didn't demand perfection, just some relief. He responded that he would have to do open surgery on each arm in two separate operations under general anesthesia. My neurologist thinks very highly of Dr. Noland and he referred me to her. I had the same conversation with her and on August 31st she did an endoscopic release on my carpal tunnel. It is now three weeks post surgery and I am about to go to the golf course albeit just to chip and putt.

The point of my example is that you don't have to stick with the first surgeon you go to. If after people finish responding to this post you want to go to him, have your discussion with him and if you like his answers, stick with him but you can leave and go to another if you don't like his answers. He might be a great surgeon but not for you or he might be the best surgeon for you.

Good luck. I had my left hip replaced by Dr. Chow five years ago and my right knee eleven months ago and both were at the Abrazzo Scottsdale campus outpatient center. BTW...for whatever it is worth, I had zero pain after each surgery.

@steveinarizona
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and all the good info you provided! It seems like gluteus medius/minimus surgery is somewhat rare, or at least I'm having some trouble in searching out those specialists in the Arizona/Vegas areas.

Hi. Has anybody had a doctor at Mayo in Arizona do a surgical repair to either a full-thickness tear or partial tear to their gluteus medius/minimus? If so, who was your doctor and how do you feel your outcome is? Thank you for your response.

@tamigl Have you tried the Mayo Clinic? If you can get in, that would be my #1 choice.

In addition to Bert a few of the other surgeons who have good reputations are:

Dr, Mathew Russo; Dr. Russell Cohen; and several others. But definitely Mayo.

@steveinarizona
I did give Mayo a try. They are totally booked up through the end of the year, and at the current time, they are not setting up appointments for next year. Thanks much for the additional info!

tamigl,
My gluteus medius tendon tore completely of my hip bone in 2010. My orthopedic surgeon drilled holes in my hip bone and reattached the tendon. They used my platelet rich plasma and a porcine graft. Before surgery I was in terrible pain and needed a walker to get around. I was sleeping 3 hours a night. Thankfully the surgery was a success. That was 16 years ago.