I had surgery with Dr. Avery in 2005 and I came out worse as a result. He was very professional and thorough in his explanation of the surgery, risks, etc. He claimed to make 85% of his patients better. I spoke with him once after my surgery failed and he told me he was having better luck with surgery because he was picking his patients more carefully. I asked if this meant I shouldn't have had surgery in the first place; he didn't respond.

Did I understand you correctly, that Dr. Avery is now saying surgery is tending to make people worse, not better? I would tend to agree based on my observations on this board, but I'm surprised that Dr. Avery may have reached that conclusion.

When I first started reading about TOS in 2003, most doctors claimed that 1/3 of the people improved with surgery, 1/3 stayed the same and 1/3 got worse. A few years later, the success rate jumped from 33% to 85%. It was never clear to me what changed to justify that huge change in surgical success. Over time, though, it seems like the 1/3 rule is closer to reality for neurogenic TOS patients than the 85% figure. Good luck with whatever you decide. Please keep us posted. I'd love to hear if Dr. Avery's thoughts on surgery have evolved.

Take care,
Kelly