United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My son has been referred to Dr. Tiel in New Orleans. I have seen his name on the medical resources page but I have not seen any postings on here from people who have actually been treated by him. Anyone out there?

Yes Dec99 I had surgery by Dr Teil. He was a very good Dr. he did not give me any false hopes just straight forward and we tried a nerve transfer surgery for me it didnt work but others have had success. He spent a lot of time with me and looked over my records b4 i traveled to New Orleans and even ordered more tests to be done here to help determine if he could help me. I think you are in good hands there. Now traveling to New Orleans on the other hand???

Hello - My son had surgery with Dr. Tiel in 2000. He was 20 at the time and the surgery was about 3 months after injury. Avulsion of all 5 nerves with a slight possibility that there may have been a thread still attached at C5. Dr. Tiel did nerve transfers from the rib area. I CAN NOT believe that I've forgotten the technical terms. Back then it was the ONLY thing on my mind. Anyway, Dr. Tiel is really great, a wonderful person, a skilled surgeon, and he worked with Dr. Kline who we were told at the time was THE expert in this type of surgery. The doctor was very pleased with the results of the surgery and considered it a success - we went back for a follow-up visit each of the next 5 years - Eric went from a completely limp arm to regaining the ability to at least move his arm away from his body and do small things with it. The surgery wasn't meant to do much more than that. Knowing what I know now and looking back on those days I would say it was the best option available to us at that time. They used proven techniques with their goal being to do what would benefit the patient most, and not with the doctor's best interest in mind. Since that time, I believe that Mayo in MN has gained superiority in these surgeries based on other's experiences there and also the fact that they use a team approach which has to be a good thing. I hope this helps. It certainly doesn't hurt to get other opinions. And please remember this is only my opinion.

We also managed to have a lot of fun in New Orleans.

I wanted to agree with Eric's mom that Dr. Tiel has a great reputation, and if my son hadn't gone to Mayo we would have probably used Dr. Tiel. I agree that the team approach at Mayo has a lot of offer: three doctors with different specialties, working together. But 'way back Dr. Kline literally wrote the book on bpi, and Dr. Tiel (as well as Dr. Spinner at Mayo) studied under Dr. Kline. Let us know how things progress.

Ellen

I met up with Dr. Tiel before choosing the team at the Mayo Clinic. I found him to be a very caring and thorough doctor. He likewise spent a lot of time addressing my injury and possible surgeries to be had. Explaining details to any question I asked. If I didn't go to the Mayo, I would have choose him as well. Best of luck.

Chris