CAUTION #1: Before you consult this list, please note that SDR’s results depend so heavily on the surgeon who performs it. I cannot emphasize this enough! Before selecting a surgeon, you absolutely must do your research.

CAUTION #2: This list is the product of collaboration within the SDR Adults Facebook group, and it is not completely up-to-date. It is intended for baseline reference purposes only, and I cannot guarantee its accuracy; please follow up directly with surgeons you are considering and thoroughly check their credentials and experience. SDR may be significantly more risky when you choose a surgeon with less experience, and the surgeons on this list may differ widely in their techniques and outcomes.

If you have more updated information on any of these surgeons or if you know of another SDR surgeon who operates on adults, please contact me so I can update our list.

UNITED STATES:

    • Dr. TS Park, St Louis Children’s/Barnes-Jewish: Single-level SDR. As of 2019, Dr. Park had performed SDR on more than 150 adults ages 18–50 (and 4,000+ patients overall, making him the most experienced SDR surgeon both for adults and overall). Most of his adult SDR patients have been independent walkers, but this is not necessarily required, especially for individuals in their late teens or 20s. Will consider all types of CP.
    • Dr. Jeffrey Leonard, Nationwide Hospital, Ohio: Single-level SDR. Will consider patients up to the age of 40. Will consider all types of CP (diplegia, hemiplegia, triplegia, quadriplegia).
    • Dr. Anderson, NYC, USA: Single-level SDR. As of 2016, performs SDR on only those with mild CP (GMFCS I or II), no older than 30s. (NOTE: Dr. Anderson recently moved states; I don’t know if he’s still performing SDRs.)
    • Dr. Manish Shah, Houston, TX: Single-level SDR. Trained under Dr. Park for 8 years. Relatively new to adult SDRs (I’m not sure when he started performing them.).
    • Dr. Patrick Graupman, St. Paul, MN: Single-level SDR. As of late 2017, had performed 10 adult SDRs.
    • Dr. Mark Sedrak and Dr. John Duncan III, California: Single-level SDR. Dr. Sedrak mainly operates on people with severe spastic quadriplegia. (Keep in mind that this group of patients has the highest rate of returning spasticity.)
    • Dr. Stevenson, Cincinnati Children’s, Ohio: Single-level SDR. Will consider patients up to the age of 45. Has reportedly done “hundreds” of SDRs (this includes child SDRs), although his number of adult SDRs is currently unknown. Most of his adult patients were independent walkers prior to SDR, but this is not a strict requirement, as he evaluates each individual on a case-by-case basis.

EUROPE:

  • Dr. Lászlo Bognár, Hungary: Single-level SDR.
  • Mr. Farragh in Liverpool, UK: Will also consider more involved subtypes of CP (GMFCS IV).
  • Dr. John Goodden in Leeds, UK: Single-level SDR. As of October 2018, 2 young adults fundraising to receive SDR with him and a few other adults being assessed for candidacy. In October 2018, Dr. Goodden had 6 years of SDR experience with children and had performed 100 childhood SDRs.
  • Mr. Vlobergs, Nottingham Queens Med, UK
  • Dr. Haberl, Bonn, Germany: Single-level SDR. As of 2018, had performed 5–6 adult SDRs on those ages 17–43. Has performed more since then, as well as a large number of childhood SDRs.
  • Dr. Jerzy Luszawski, Poland: Single-level SDR. Has performed 3 adult SDRs as of late 2016. Selection criteria depends on the patient and what they want to achieve.
  • Dr. Lezsek Sagan, Poland (along with Dr. Pawel Malasiak, Dr. Marek Lickendorf, and Dr. Lukasz Mudany): Prof. Sagan typically does multi-level SDR. After doing 100+ SDR surgeries (mostly on children), he reportedly decided that the other surgeons assisting him could do SDR independently as well. Now, these four surgeons work in pairs to do SDR and reportedly do single-level SDR or multilevel depending on the individual case.
  • Dr. Peter Spazzapan, Slovenia: ~6–8 SDRs per year.