Patient Testimonials

• Good afternoon Dr. Davidovitch. I really must thank you and your staff for an amazing surgical experience in replacing my right hip. My recovery has been nothing short of amazing and you and your gifted skills and that of your staff cannot be underestimated or cannot be overstated. Within three days of your expert surgery, I was walking in my home without a cane with almost no discomfort. I had a previous surgery, using the posterior approach, and the differences within a week of surgery is nothing short of a miracle and your gifted hands. I cannot thank you and your staff enough. Your work is truly amazing and a tribute to your expertise and training.

• April 5, 2010
  
  Dear Dr. Davidovitch,

  I consulted you for a hip replacement after seeing numerous other physicians. At the first visit, I knew I was in the right place. Your consultation was excellent and all questions were answered. The surgery and post-operative care were better than I ever expected.

  In the sixth week post-surgery, I reached my major goal by walking three miles for the first time in ten years. I have no pain whatsoever.

  When I think of the complexity involved in the surgery you performed and the outstanding outcome, I am honoured to have you as my surgeon and look forward to referring many patients in the future.

  Your care and concern have been obvious from beginning to end. My wife, family, and I are extremely appreciative.

• Every person i came in contact with from within the office to the all of the pre and post surgery, was caring, understanding and willing to assist. Even in the wee hours of the evening in the hospital, someone always answered the call button and took care of whatever was needed.

  I am extremely appreciative of Dr. D’s willingness to be available by email and answered all kinds of questions, with understanding, and within a very short period of time.

  As far as changing my life – thank you. I am again walking for exercise, moving up and down stairs, and back to bowling, even improving my average.

  It is great to be able to put my socks on by myself; get in and out of the care without pain and in general, move freely. I even climbed in and out of and flew in a hot air balloon! What an experience. That would never happen before the operation! I am no longer sitting in a chair and asking people to to up and down stairs to get things for me! I am very independent, again.

  To Dr. D. and staff, thanks for giving me back the freedom to move on my own, again.

• I am 51 and, except for my hip, was in excellent shape in 2009. I had significant limitations in my hip range of motion and pain when I did any moderate physical work, such as transplanting in the garden, which I love to do. The pain ranged from my lower back to my knee. I learned that it was all due to degenerative arthritis in my hip.

  On Nov. 29, 2010 I celebrated my one year anniversary of my hip implant by playing golf. I walked the course, pain free. My first golf date post-surgery was January 8, 2010, the first of four straight days of golf.

  I sought out Dr. Davidovitch after a client of mine had what I considered to be a very speedy recovery from her anterior implant surgery, done by this doctor. I already knew I was a candidate. I was tired of the pain and limitations, especially not being able to put on a sock without a struggle. After a Thursday morning surgery, I was on my home on Saturday. I had in-home physical therapy for about a week, and was then back to the office and pretty-much a regular schedule. I had more P.T. during December and, just as the Dr. had said, hit the links in Florida on Jan. 8 (wearing more that a sweater in the record cold)!

  After about another month of P.T. I started at the gym and have been fine. Some pulling and a little discomfort happen every now and then, probably from scar tissue forming, but it is so much better than it had been. I have no regrets. I think stretching is the key.

  My care under Dr. Davidovitch has been excellent.

• I call it “The miracle on 17th street.” After having 4 different consults, I decided to have Anterior Hip Replacement surgery with Dr. Davidovitch. It is absolutely terrific to have my former life style restored. No more pills for pain relief, inability to walk distances, discomfort sitting in the theatre, movies or car. Back to walking through museums and not worrying about how far away I’m parked from my destinations. My surgery was on a Thursday, and I was home for lunch on Saturday. Wow – who could ask for anything better. At home I used a cane and was up and down the stairs in my house with no problem – one at a time for a while. Really no pain – more like muscle soreness. May be a need for Thlenol occasionally. The week after my surgery, my husband took me to the mail a few times to walk for exercise. Not a power talk, but definitely exercise. Two weeks post-surgery was my follow-up appointment to have the stitches removed. It was then that I was given permission to drive. Yippee – “Independence Day.” My new hip is my very best friend (next to Dr. D.). How fortunate to live in these times when we can replace our worn-out parts. Sincerely, Very satisfied.

• All I can say is that he promised I would be dancing at my daughter’s wedding just 7 weeks after my hip operation and he was absolutely right !!. However, he couldn’t change the fact that I am truly lousy dancer!!

  He claims I’ll be back inside 5 years for the other hip. I respect his judgment, but I sure hope he’s wrong. But if I have to do it again he’s my man!!!

• Dr. Roy Davidovitch was great. He was always attentive, always on, always asking a pertinent question, always listening when I had something to say. The operation he performed, with the anterior approach, was great. I healed rapidly and I’m in love with my new hip. I consulted with Dr. Davidovitch multiple times over the last year and a half, since I broke my right hip in an unexpected bicycle accident, an my confidence in him grew steadily during that time. This was the reason I opted to have Dr. Davidovitch perform the surgery on me, and why I accepted his recommendations about what should be done.

• I am 55 year old female diagnosed with osteoarthritis in both hips in 2002. I struggled for the next 8 years as the pain seemed to increase almost daily. I knew I needed surgery but I was afraid. My brother had his hip replaced and his recovery was long and painful. I scoured the internet for more information. I discovered that a minimally invasive technique existed called “anterior total hip replacement”. So I read everything I could find about it and decided I was no longer afraid of surgery because the muscles aren’t cut so recovery is faster with much less pain. Next step was to find a surgeon who had been specially trained to do this operation and again I turned to the internet. That’s when I stumbled across Dr. Davidovitch. I live in New Jersey and when I discovered Dr. D was the first surgeon in New York City to perform an anterior hip replacement I decided to call for an appointment.

  I had to take a train, the PATH and a taxi to get to his office, that not easy when it hurts to walk. Dr. D was very professional and patiently answered all my questions. I felt such confidence in him that I scheduled my surgery for the following month. With my right hip replaced I was standing with a walker in the recovery room. The next day Dr. D held my hand while escorting me down the hospital hallway and back without a cane. I was released from the hospital the following day. While at home I dint spend much time in bed. I used a cane and went up and down stairs and outside for walks. After 2 weeks I was able to drive my car that has a manual transmission to and from physical therapy appointments. At my 3 month appointment I asked Dr. D if he would please replace my left hip now. He did. Now I dance in my kitchen because I can. I’m able to stand and talk to someone for an hour or more if I want to. I can shop just for fun. Before I chose to sat at home because the pain of getting out of the car was too much to bare. The pain made it hard to go to sleep and heaven forbid if I moved the wrong way the pain felt like it would shoot through my whole body. Now the joy of pain free movement sometimes overwhelms me. I will never take it for granted again, thanks to Dr. Davidovitch.

• I would like to preface my remarks by stating that I am a dentist, 75 years old, who has been in practice for 51 years. Several years ago I was diagnosed with arthritis of my right hip and told I would need hip replacement when the pain and discomfort became intolerable. I was forced to stop playing tennis and couldn’t even have a baseball catch with my 10 year old grandson. Any physical activity was just too painful.

  Having reached the decision to finally proceed with a hip replacement, I had already selected and had a consultation with an orthopaedist who had been highly recommended to me by a number of people, including my colleagues. They had all had the conventional method of hip surgery done, with at least 2-4 month period of recuperation.

  At that point my daughter called to tell me that she had been told of a different technique called anterior hip replacement that was being done by a small group of orthopaedists. The technique offered a number of advantages when compared with the conventional method. She convinced me to go for a consultation to the NYU Langone’s Hospital for Joint Diseases and to speak with Dr. Roy Davidovitch, an orthopaedic surgeon who had trained for several years with Dr. Joel Matta, a surgeon from California, who introduced the technique in the U.S. more than two decades ago, and who also helped design a special table to simplify the procedure.

  I spent one hour of consultation with Dr. Davidovitch and found him to be understanding, very personable and extremely informative. I was told that the surgery was minimally invasive with no major muscles cut, with a shorter hospital stay, smaller incision, less trauma to muscles, less pain and blood loss, reduced risk of dislocation after surgery, faster healing and a quicker return to normal activities. At the end of that appointment I immediately scheduled my surgery for the anterior hip replacement procedure and as I write this narrative it has been one year since the surgery was done and all these predictions have become reality.

  On the morning of surgery, Dr. Davidovitch visited with me, and assured me that all would go well. I then walked(limped) down the hallway to the room where the surgery was performed, was greeted warmly by the surgical team, seated and was under anaesthesia in about 10 seconds.

  The next thing I remember was being in the recovery room where my wife greeted me. The numbness in my legs gradually disappeared and I was pleased to realize that I wasn’t in any pain, nor was I to be at any other time, both in the hospital and back at my home thanks to the surgery and my postoperative care at NYU.

  The following day after breakfast my therapy nurse arrived and I was told to begin walking with the aid of a walker. I immediately got out of bed and walked up and down the hallway and up and down a flight of stairs with no pain. I repeated this in the afternoon. By the following day after therapy I was told that I would be going home that afternoon – 2 days after checking into the hospital for my surgery. My attending nurse and physician had already made arrangements for me to start my physical therapy at home and I met with a Home Health Agency representative who made arrangement for me to begin my home therapy the very next day.

  My roommate, a man in his 30′s at the hospital had undergone conventional hip surgery several days before I had and was still unable to walk across the room by the time I was leaving for home.

  The following day I started my home therapy and my therapist was amazed at the progress I was making so quickly after surgery. She told me that I would be ready for my outpatient therapy at the Kessler Rehabilitation Center by the end of the following week, and would no longer need her services. At that point I was already walking 1 mile daily and doing all of my home exercises on my own daily. My wife was an invaluable help in all of my recuperation procedures. By my third week home I was doing both outpatient and at-home therapy and was able to drive.

  After 4-1/2 weeks I returned to work at my office while continuing my outpatient therapy 3 afternoons a week and gradually increased my work hours until I was on a full time schedule after 6 weeks.

  I now lead a completely normal and active life with absolutely no restrictions and am forever grateful for the skill and personal concern that has been shown to me by Dr. Davidovitch and his excellent staff. I unequivocally recommend this procedure and especially advise person seeking the surgery to make an appointment with Dr. Davidovitch.

  With great appreciation

• My hip replacement surgery experience was much better than expected!

  I choose to have minimally invasive, anterior-cut, total hip replacement surgery performed because i wanted to recover quickly. It was just more intuitive to me that this method would do the least harm to my muscles and nerves and that i would recover quicker. Also since I work in the research & development field, I was intrigued with the use of the HANA table to perform the surgery. I imagined that this table would enable the surgeon to perform the surgery with more precision and would make the operation less stressful to the surgeon as well as the patient.

  The Outcome was great. The hospital experience (my first!) was better than expected. The staff was professional and catered to all of my needs. In that time I spent at the hospital for Joint Disease, I only felt the onset of pain once and this was due to the staff being very busy and not being able to provide my meds as per schedule. This was not a problem. Throughout my stay, the pain management doctor worked with me to satisfy my needs and we were able to downgrade the pain meds before I left the hospital because I did not feel the need for it. The physical therapists at the hospital had me up walking immediately and I was climbing stairs the next day. The only suggestion that I would make is that the hospital should have more “walkers” available as they were in great demand by the patients.

  The post surgery recovery went well because this type of surgery does not come with any restrictions. I did not have to take precautions with crossing my legs or bending down, etc. The other patients that were going through physical therapy with me did not progress as quickly as I did and they complained about the restrictions that they had since they had a different type of surgery. I concentrated on the exercises that my physical therapist showed me and I did these exercises faithfully many times per day. It paid off. I was back to work in six weeks without a cane and with no pain!

  For those considering total hip replacement surgery, I would suggest that they familiarize themselves with the whole process from understanding the disease that caused the problem and how it affects the muscles, the surgical procedure, the hospital stay, and the post surgical recovery. I would suggest that they choose the right doctor and hospital carefully like I did and ask as many questions as possible to fully understand the process. This will alleviate the surprises. Also, there are books and articles on the process that may help.

• It is with great pleasure that I am writing to you about my entire experience prior to , during and after my anterior hip replacement surgery expertly performed by Dr. Roy Davidovitch at NYU Langone Jt. Disease Hospital.

  My entire experience from the initial exam and pre op tests, the surgery and after care given by everyone I encountered made my anterior hip replacement a most successful experience.

  I had the good fortune to have spoken to some friends who were aware of this newer method performed by Dr. Davidovitch and indeed I will be forever grateful to have been in his skillful hands.

  I can’t believe how good I feel now and how quickly I was able to give up the walker (after 3 days at home) and used a cane for my mental security than out of need. I felt I could return to work after about two weeks but my wife insisted I remain home and relaxing, going out to dinner and visiting friends for another two weeks. The staff at the hospital helped me to arrange for home therapy and exercise to hasten my recovery and return to normal. After two weeks people who came to visit couldn’t believe I had hip surgery as everyone they knew who had the standard method had weeks of restrictions and pain and I was walking up and down stairs and moving around, and taking my shower with assistance.

  I highly recommend Dr. Davidovitch to anyone contemplating hip replacement surgery. his skill and professional and caring manner is ably complimented by an outstanding staff that makes hip replacement surgery worthwhile with excellent results.

  Best wishes to the office staff and hospital staff for a Happy New Year.

  With heartfelt appreciation,

• I am a 77-year old man, very active, playing tennis 4-5 times a week and soccer on Sundays. So you can well imagine my total hopelessness when one day, two years ago, suddenly my right hip could not support my weight. I couldn’t touch my toes, put my shocks on and could not walk much less run.

  The pain was unbearable . Fast forward. After trying unsuccessfully acupuncture, physical therapy and steroid shots I was told that I needed a new hip, about which I was warned that the procedure, if not done properly, can have serious complications. Confused and scared I went on-line to find everything one needs to know under the circumstances. Firstly I had to decide the surgical approaches I felt comfortable with. I opted for the anterior approach over the more traditional posterior approach, for the smaller cut which limits damage to the muscle tissue. I can personally attest to the fact that I had my surgery in March 2008 and I was back playing tennis, pain free, in 3 months, as Dr. Davidovitch promised me. Which brings me to the second leg of my pre-op search. I had to pick the right surgeon. It didn’t take me long to find out that the pioneer orthopedic surgeon in hip and pelvic reconstruction is Dr. Joel Matta in Santa Monica, California. With no hesitation I wanted to marry the best surgeon with the best procedure for optimum results. I did not want to settle being 80% satisfied. I wanted to be 100% satisfied, which I proved this year with my club’s first place trophy in mixed doubles.

  While packing to go to Santa Monica, again through the internet I discovered that Dr. Roy Davidovitch trained under Dr. Matta. The rest is history. Dr. Davidovitch and NUY are a unique combination bar none, I was treated with outmost professionalism as well as warmth, even affection, which reminds me of doctors and hospitals back in Europe where I come from , some 50 years ago. Dr Davidovitch treats you as if you are his only patient, a rare quality. Keep it up Roy . We need people like you,. Back to my surgery. The pre-op preparation was smooth, informative and patient-friendly, my surgery was pain free and uneventful, as was my recovery, short and “heavenly ” due to my sedation. I was also given Lovenox to keep my blood thin. I spent 4 days at NYU after my surgery, and the 5th day I went to Burke in white Plains for Rehab, because it was more convenient for my wife to visit from Scarsdale. If I needed to my replace my left hip – which thank God I do not- I wouldn’t hesitate a minute going back to Dr. Davidovitch at NYU. What I do instead is spread the word. This is the least I can do.

• My Hip Replacement went much better than I could have imagined. I was walking and climbing stairs the next day in the hospital. I had no restrictions, no crutches, no high seat, nothing to impair my getting back to normal life. I went home after 3 days in the hospital. The visiting nurse came to my home as did the physical therapist. After 3 visits, they recommended I go to an outpatient facility. Dr Davidovitch recommended David Goldman whom he trained at Chelsea Physical Therapy and my progress was very rapid. I’m thankful to Dr Davidovitch for all he did for me. He is truly a knight in amour who saved me allot of pain and suffering. The Anterior Approach he practices is far superior to the archaic Traditional Approach. I have friends who have gone with the traditional approach with pain and suffering. Mine was almost painless and my recovery was remarkable. Today I am very physically active and I have recommended many friends and acquaintances to Dr Davidovitch.

• For more than two years I was in pain. My pain started slowly, but progressed, by the time I foundDr. Davidovitch I was unable to live my life as I wished to. Pain and the inability to walk even a couple of blocks with my family was my life. I first spoke to the doctors office staff before my appointment and was reassured by their warmth and compassion. When I met with the doctor, he explained in detail the minimally invasive surgery I was a candidate for. I did my research and was confident after meeting the doctor I was in the right place. I can attest that having hip replacement surgery done by Dr. Davidovitch has given me back my life. I feel great and am back to doing everything I wanted and more, completely pain free. I have recommended him to many people and will continue to do so. Thank you.

• I found out about Dr. D from my daughter’s friend who works for J&J as Marketing VP who oversees the distribution of their prosthetic hip devices. She explained to me that Dr. D was using the newer “anterior approach” to hip replacement surgery and that the recovery time was faster and with less restrictions than the older method. The surgery went well. The only difficult time was the post-op pain that lasted a day or so but was managed with pain killers. I went home on the fourth day with a crutch to assist me. For two weeks I had a visiting therapist three days each week followed by 6 weeks of therapy at a local therapist to which I was able to drive myself. I went back to work part time as a handyman on the 20th day and full time without any restrictions after completing my therapy. Dr D not only did a great job, he was completely accessible after surgery via e-mail and promptly answered any questions that came up. My only regret is that I waited too long to do the surgery and put up with the hip pain unnecessarily. Do not hesitate to use Dr. Davidovitch!?Please feel free to call me to discuss my experience.

• I first learned of Dr Roy Davidovitch and the Anterior Hip Replacement Approach from a special feature on New York WCBS Channel 2 News in October, 2008.

  As you would expect Dr Davidovitch was interviewed extensively during the segment; explaining the procedure and the primary advantages of a less invasive method and a much quicker recovery time. Several patients where also interviewed commenting on the minimum incision and the fact that they were back to normal activities within a matter of weeks following the operation.

  I decided to schedule an appointment with Dr. Davidovitch to evaluate my condition and discuss the Anterior Method. X-rays were taken prior to the appointment. My wife and I then met with Dr. Davidovitch. We had a number questions concerning the actual procedure, anesthesiologist, the hospital, its staff, follow-up visits, rehabilitation and insurance coverage. Dr. Davidovitch addressed each concern / question with detail and thoughtfulness . If he did not have the information, he directed us to the people or hospital department that had he information. Special note; he gave us all the time necessary to answer all questions and address any concerns.

  I then asked and was given several patient referrals. I contacted a patient who had the operation approximately a month prior to me contacting him. He was totally satisfied with the procedure and the hospital. This patient is a college professor and was back in the classroom in a week with the assistance of a cane. He was off the cane within the month. Based on his experience he would recommend Dr. Davidovitch and the Anterior Method. He also suggested that I select a good rehabilitation facility prior to the procedure. Good advice.

  I then had a second appointment with Dr. Davidovitch and shortly after scheduled the surgery which was done on January 8, 2009. I was released from the hospital in 3.5 days. I was in rehab 3 days/week for 2 months, 2 days/week for 1 month and 1 day/week for 1 month. I was on crutches for approximately 3 weeks and then a single crutch for 2 – 3 weeks. I resumed driving approximately 3 weeks after the operation. The hospital staff instructed me on the Lovenox injection which I did for a month.

  It is now approaching 2 years since the operation. I have not had any difficulties or limitations in my personal or professional life.

• Patient Testimonial Release Form

You will need the Adobe Reader to view and print the above document.