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Dr. Eaton Closing His Practice
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12/21/2012 14:39
artcoolie 
12/21/2012 14:39
artcoolie 
Re: Dr. Eaton Closing His Practice

I've had mild Dupuytren's for years and alwyas figured if it got bad I would see Dr. Eaton. Of course, the time came and he had just rretired! Luckily, I found Dr. Gates in Naples.
http://www.drherbertgates.com/
I really can't get over how simple NA is and how miraculous. Dr. Gates has performed over 800 of these procedures. As well as being skillful, he and his staff are very kind and caring.

04/10/2013 20:51
stevebass 
04/10/2013 20:51
stevebass 
Re: Dr. Eaton Closing His Practice

ellenpao and Pinky: Could you share your experience with NA now that it's been about five months since you had the procedure?

Thanks.

04/13/2013 06:00
Randy_H 
04/13/2013 06:00
Randy_H 

Re: Dr. Eaton Closing His Practice

I've had NA with Dr. Eaton and as much as I morn our collective loss of this great doctor's practice there are a few tings to keep in mind.

His contribution was to establish NA in North America as safe and effective, gather important clinical data to that end, develop his own "method" that made NA more effective, and train other MD's. He did this through complete commitment to the procedure to the expense much of his practice as a fine hand surgeon.

He was the Father of NA in the Americas.

But now I believe he would be the first to tell you that to a trained hand specialist NA is ridiculously simple for this profession. Therefore anymore of his piers who understands it's power as a first line of defense can do likewise. NA is not Rocket Surgery. That really was his message, proven by his actions. And if true, we all still in good hands.

As I have written previously, with the advent of Xiaflex's approval the game changes once again. Another earlier adaptor of NA, Dr. Denkler, is on record as to some of it's advantages over NA. While not profound, it is at least equivalent to NA. Now that Xiaflex is widely available the days of Open Surgery "first and only" are diminishing. To me that is the important thing and would have happened with or without Dr. Eaton's pioneering work. I personally would repeat NA as I had a great experience. It is probably also true that NA requires more expertise than Xiaflex, but that is debatable. Either way, the loss of Eaton's practice will not effect the quality of care now available.

04/13/2013 19:45
flojo 
04/13/2013 19:45
flojo 
Re: Dr. Eaton Closing His Practice

Randy,

Well said! All of what you said!

04/17/2013 00:37
kenny27dc 
04/17/2013 00:37
kenny27dc 
Re: Dr. Eaton Closing His Practice

Dr. Eaton,
Thanks again for the great work on my hands in 2009. It was my first experience with NA & it was such a pleasant visit to your office & quite an educating experience. It was time for another repair ( or tune-up) and I just hand my right and done in Memphis TN. I will be happy to update the results in a few day, and answer any questions if anyone has any about my experience.
Kb

04/17/2013 16:59
Tusk 
04/17/2013 16:59
Tusk 
Re: Dr. Eaton Closing His Practice

Kenny, looking forward to your update. Did you see Dr. Bourland?

04/17/2013 18:41
moondanc 
04/17/2013 18:41
moondanc 
Re: Dr. Eaton Closing His Practice

Randy_H:
But now I believe he would be the first to tell you that to a trained hand specialist NA is ridiculously simple for this profession. Therefore anymore of his piers who understands it's power as a first line of defense can do likewise. NA is not Rocket Surgery. That really was his message, proven by his actions. And if true, we all still in good hands.


I disagree with your assessment of the ease of NA. Over the course of 7 years or so I had NA with Dr. Eaton three times. I saw his procedure-- at least to my eye--get better each time. I also had NA with another trained hand specialist and the procedure and technique were very, very different. Each time, Dr. Eaton inserted a needle and cut the cords leaving a very small needle hole, very little blood, small circle band aids were used and I was good to go that day with regard to using my hands.

The other surgeon also used a needle but used a "grinding" technique, there was lots of blood and I had small tears at each place the needle was inserted--it was very aggressive. I've not read reports of others having a technique like this used on them. I had large band aids over most of my hand, my hand was wrapped in gauze and the bandaids needed to be changed over the course of several days and I was unable to easily use my hand. It was necessary for NA to be repeated on that finger by Dr. Eaton less than 3 months later.

I'm sorry, I don't think it is "ridiculously simple"--some NA docs, trained hand surgeons, have much higher complication rates than others. I believe Dr. Eaton's is one of the lowest.

Moondanc

04/17/2013 19:07
klm2050 
04/17/2013 19:07
klm2050 
Re: Dr. Eaton Closing His Practice

I totally agree with MoonDanc - that there is nothing simple about this procedure. I have had NA about 14 times now (both hands, very aggressive). I started back in 1999 with Drs Badois, Lellouche, Lermusiaux and happily moved on to Dr. Eaton, who was only 40 miles away. As was said, Dr. Eaton's technique and procedures improved over the years - I even discussed that with him on my last visit (and yes, I was devastated at the closing of his practice).

While I didn't have the negative experience MoonDanc had with someone tearing up my hand, I only was treated by doctors who had done LOTS of NA. They were all terrific, but I'm convinced Dr. Lermusiaux could have done it in his sleep - he seemed to be having some kind of zen experience as he looked to the sky while prodding the cords before he decided where to saw. I don't want anyone sawing a needle in my hand unless they have a lot of practice. I have an appointment next week with Dr. Diaz who took over Dr. Eaton's practice - onward and upward. Kristen

Edited 04/17/13 22:19

04/17/2013 19:13
kenny27dc 
04/17/2013 19:13
kenny27dc 
Re: Dr. Eaton Closing His Practice

I had the NA procedure yesterday in Memphis, TN yesterday. I just took the bandages off. There was very little blood yesterday during procedure & no blood today. I just washed my hands to feel fresh. I have no open sores or cuts & will not be needing or using any bandages. I was given a antibiotic which I will be taking for 5 days. Now for my day splints & a night splint for 3 months to stretch the finger back a little more. I videotaped the whole procedure and was very comfortable. It did get to me at the end with the final stretch trying to break up the chord.
Kenny

04/18/2013 05:42
Randy_H 
04/18/2013 05:42
Randy_H 

Re: Dr. Eaton Closing His Practice

My asserting that NA was "Ridiculously Simple" for a CHS was in comparison to Open Surgery. This is my understanding from interviews of CHS who have done both, including Eaton and Denkler. This take is also based on reading hundreds of testimonies from people who have had NA from countless other MD's other than Eaton. They have all had a mostly positive experiences.

Yes, there would have to be differences between NA practitioners, and experience is probably as significant a predictor as anything else as to their safety and effectiveness. However, if nerves are not damaged (which is rare with NA compared to OS) the recovery time and need for post Op therapy is quite minimal in comparison to OS, as well as the surgeon's need to deal with other side effects of OS which are more common than with NA.

So please understand, my comment was strictly in comparison between NA and OS from the surgeon's perspective. And I'd have to say from the patients' as well. It's like comparing open heart surgery to angioplasty. I don't think I overstated the difference. I personally have had both.

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