Tubal Reversal Information

How Do I Determine Which Tubal Reversal Information Is Accurate?
A member of The Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center Message Board posts her concerns that she has read a lot of conflicting information about the best tubal reversal techniques. Members of Dr. Gary Berger's staff - as well as other patients - offer information and encouragement. On the Internet, claims about tubal reversal pregnancy rates are often made without supporting information or documentation - such as a description of the patient population, study method, and follow-up interval. Most Internet sites about tubal reversal do not provide any factual data at all. Any doctor may say that his patients have a particular success rate, but supporting the claim with actual data involves considerable effort. Performing a follow-up study such as the one Dr. Berger compiles requires keeping an accurate record of patients and their findings, as well as maintaining ongoing patient contact to determine the outcomes of treatment. Without this detailed type of information, the accuracy of any claim of success rates should be questioned.

The following is topic Other websites in forum Preparing for Tubal Reversal from the Tubal Reversal Message Board:
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Posted by Impatient (Member # 5526) on November 27, 2007 03:00 PM:
I have been looking at this board and other TR sites for a long time and wonder why their seem to be so many difrent stories on the best way to do the surgery, dye tests, no dye tests, 3 layers or 2. Honestly, it seems that some people are just trying to throw out stuff to run people off or to be misleading. How should me and my dh know what is right?
Carrie
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Posted by CarlaJo (Member # 10380) on November 27, 2007 03:04 PM:
By the statistics of pregnancy and the recovery time. Dr. Berger and his staff are awesome! I did my research also, and he had the best stats for my age and type of ligation.
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Posted by Julia Smith, RN (Member # 10) on November 27, 2007 03:07 PM:
Hi, Carrie. I was asked this same question just a few days ago and do have e-mail requests with this same question fairly frequently. I usually respond that the "three layers are better than two" theory is just the opinion of one doctor on the internet!
Dr. Berger sews the muscular and outer serosal layers together but not the inner endothelial layer as this may increase the risk of scar formation within the tubal lumen. In his opinion, this is the best approach. The suggestion I always make is to read through the testimonials from our patients. All of those women had surgery performed by Dr. Berger using the microsurgical techniques he pioneered -- with pregnancy rates near 80% in our latest follow-up survey. This is a clear indication that his techniques are successful and result in pregnancies!
On the Internet, claims about tubal reversal pregnancy rates are often made without supporting information or documentation - such as a description of the patient population, study method, and follow-up interval. Most Internet sites about tubal reversal do not provide any factual data at all. Any doctor may say that his patients have a particular success rate, but supporting the claim with actual data involves considerable effort. Performing a follow-up study such as the one Dr. Berger compiles requires keeping an accurate record of patients and their findings, as well as maintaining ongoing patient contact to determine the outcomes of treatment. Without this detailed type of information, the accuracy of any claim of success rates should be questioned.
I hope this is helpful!
Julia Smith, RN
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Posted by Sarah Meacham, RN (Member # 9766) on November 27, 2007 03:16 PM:
Hi Carrie,
We keep very detailed data and statistics on each of our patients (age, tube length, medical history, tube of tubal ligation, pregnancy history, etc.). This is obtained by daily contact with our patients to ensure we have accurate information regarding their surgery and their outcome. To the best of my knowledge, Dr. Berger is the only doctor with published data regarding outcomes following reversal surgery.
Please contact me (SarahM@tubal-reversal.net) with any other questions you may have and we look forward to having you as a future patient!
Sarah
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Posted by Jennifer Okun, R.N. (Member # 1806) on November 27, 2007 03:17 PM:
Hi Carrie,
What Julia answered is exactly right! Dr. Berger has been performing the reversal surgery for over 30 years, has performed over 6,000 reversals and has the most tubal reversal babies born world-wide. So, obviously Dr. Berger's technique is the best and he is doing it the best way possible.
I have worked for Dr. Berger for nearly 10 years and I can assure you - he is an amazing surgeon!
You will have the best outcome possible if you decide to undergo reversal surgery at our facility with Dr. Berger.
You may email me anytime with questions: Jennifer O@tubal-reversal.net
Best wishes!
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Posted by Jennifer Okun, R.N. (Member # 1806) on November 27, 2007 03:20 PM:
I should also add that Dr. Berger is the only physician in the country with a practice that is specifically limited to tubal reversal surgery. That is the only procedure we perform here with Dr. Berger performing four reversals each day, five days a week. We have a high staff/patient ratio with one or two nurses devoted specifically to your care while you are here. All of our nurses have advanced certification in cardiac life support (ACLS) and our anesthesiologists are MD's with board certification in anesthesia. The anesthesiologists are employees here and not anesthesia staff from another hospital or anesthesia service. So everyone here has expertise in caring for and performing reversal surgery. While you are here, you will only be with other women and couples who are here specifically for the same purpose.
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Posted by Rhonda Brown, RN (Member # 9485) on November 27, 2007 03:36 PM:
Dear Carrie,What a good question. We get asked this question quite a bit. The best tool that any patient can have is information. I do not know of any other physician that puts out the information that Dr. Berger provides. We encourage patients to check his credentials and to ask as many questions as they need to. We provide 24/7 coverage seven days a week not only to our patients that have had surgery, but to patients that are thinking of having tubal reversal surgery.
As you browse the message board and read all the posts you will see that experience is a factor with tubal reversal surgery We have had many patients come to Dr. Berger after they had been told that tubal reversal could not be done in their case and then Dr. Berger was able to successfully repair the tubes as he is able to do in 98% of the cases.
I do not think that you will find a more caring physician who is truely devoted to the procedure that he performs as well as patient care. We as staff members feel very fortunate to be a part of this experience and would love to meet you in the near future. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Rhonda