Hey folks. I was diagnosed with NTOS a few months ago by Dr. Thompson. It's been plaguing me for over five years now. PT has failed, and I have little doubt Dr. Thompson will recommend surgery when I see him again in December. I like Dr. Thompson and I know he and his staff have an outstanding reputation for surgically treated TOS.

Now here's my issue. I've recently been reading on this forum about Dr. Pearl and his successful outcomes. That he operates on many athletes, his patients have faster discharges from the hospital and quicker recoveries. I know Dr. Thompson has operated on athletes as well. Does anyone know how Thompson's hospital stays, recoveries, and surgical outcomes compare to Pearl's? I'm in Little Rock, so Dallas and St. Louis are about equidistant from here. I know both Baylor and Barnes-Jewish have excellent reputations. Thoughts anyone?

Surgeon's expertise is as good as a patient's individual system and how it reacts to surgery, their methods and post care. You could have the best surgeon on the planet and still have individual issues, scar tissue build up or...Dr.Pearl tried to help many pro athletes and maybe there are many successes but the more highly profiled athletes are still having issues. Dr. Thompson is a huge TOS proponent of surgery. The more I read and research the more there is a 50/50 chance of success. Neurogenic TOS seems to be the most difficult to treat as the "cure" is still being sot after. Surgery either helps somewhat or not at all.

Patient's highly recommend the following:

Dr. Dean Donahue
Mass. General Hospital
Thoracic surgery
55 Fruit St.
Boston, Massachusetts

I'm pretty sure Dr. Thompson has a better than 50% success rate for his surgeries. I know Dr. Donahue is great as well. However, I have no reason to believe that his outcomes are any better than Dr. Thompson's...and he's in BOSTON. That would may any follow up care difficult. St. Louis is a 6 hour drive from my house.