Review Detail
9.5 48 10 0.5
Overall rating
10.0
Ease of Correspondence with Doctor
10.0
Doctor's Friendliness and Courtesy
10.0
Clarity of Doctor's Explanations
10.0
Accuracy of Doctor's Predictions
10.0
Doctor's Apparent Knowledge of Procedure
10.0
Doctor's Availability During Recovery
10.0
Rate Your Cosmetic Outcome
10.0
Would Recommend to Others
10.0
My original Nuss was performed at the Mayo Clinic by Dr. J, fantastic results with the chest. I also give her and the Mayo Clinic 10/10. However Dr J was unable to correct the rib flare during the Nuss as well as during bar removal. I tried several braces to remedy the situation unsuccessfully like most people. I decided to email Dr. Schaarschmidt and pick his brain and responded very promptly with a detailed explanation of his planned procedure as well as cost and expected hospital stay. For anyone who is having difficulty getting your insurance to cover one of the fine American ones like Dr j, I highly recommend looking into Dr Schaar in Germany because the operation is about 1/10 of the cost that it would be in America...anyway on to the procedure!
Overall dr schaarschmidt is a very skilled and experienced surgeon for all pectus related procedures and he is clearly very passionate about what he does. He is very easy to reach via email. From what Dr Schaarschmidt described it sounds like he removed segments of defective cartilage and sutured the ends where the segments were removed together, closing the gap that was created. I am still currently recovering and am very swollen so I can't really speak for the cosmetic appearance quite yet, but it looks promising. Pain is not nearly comparable to the nuss, never required iv narcotics and after about 3 days I didn't need pain killers at all. Should be able to fly home once the last drainage tube is removed with no problems. My advice would be just to get the ribs and chest fixed at the same time and save yourself a 2nd procedure if possible, the nuss is already very painful, can't imagine the rib correction makes it significantly worse.
As for the hospital it's a bit outdated compared to the state of art mayo clinic. But they have everything you need here. Some of the nurses and hospital workers don't speak much English, which i expected. They are also not quite as agressive with pain medicine here in Germany, however I'm not so sure you need it. the TV is all in German, so I was pretty bored but that's really my only minor complaint. But They are very nice and hospitable and they will let you stay a bit longer if you ask. Dr Schaar frequently checks on you as well.
Overall I give my experience an A+ and if I remember I'll be back with updates as far as the cosmetic appearance goes!
Overall dr schaarschmidt is a very skilled and experienced surgeon for all pectus related procedures and he is clearly very passionate about what he does. He is very easy to reach via email. From what Dr Schaarschmidt described it sounds like he removed segments of defective cartilage and sutured the ends where the segments were removed together, closing the gap that was created. I am still currently recovering and am very swollen so I can't really speak for the cosmetic appearance quite yet, but it looks promising. Pain is not nearly comparable to the nuss, never required iv narcotics and after about 3 days I didn't need pain killers at all. Should be able to fly home once the last drainage tube is removed with no problems. My advice would be just to get the ribs and chest fixed at the same time and save yourself a 2nd procedure if possible, the nuss is already very painful, can't imagine the rib correction makes it significantly worse.
As for the hospital it's a bit outdated compared to the state of art mayo clinic. But they have everything you need here. Some of the nurses and hospital workers don't speak much English, which i expected. They are also not quite as agressive with pain medicine here in Germany, however I'm not so sure you need it. the TV is all in German, so I was pretty bored but that's really my only minor complaint. But They are very nice and hospitable and they will let you stay a bit longer if you ask. Dr Schaar frequently checks on you as well.
Overall I give my experience an A+ and if I remember I'll be back with updates as far as the cosmetic appearance goes!
Your Pectus Information
Condition
Other
D