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David J Slutsky, MD

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David J Slutsky, MD
(4 Reviews)
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2808 Columbia Street TORRANCE, CA 90503
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About

David J Slutsky, MD

Upon graduation from U of Manitoba Medical school, Dr. Slutsky undertook a 1 year internship followed by a 5 year Orthopedic residency at the Health Sciences Center, which he completed in 1987. He spent the next year working as a cardiac assistant before traveling to Australia to spend two months with G. Ian Taylor MD for extra training in microsurgery. He then traveled to Loma Linda University Medical Center where he completed a 1 year Hand and Micro vascular surgery fellowship from 1988-89. He stayed on as an attending Hand surgeon until 1991 at which time he started a solo private practice in Hand surgery in Torrance, CA. He received his certification in Electrodiagnostic studies in 1999 and performs his own nerve conduction studies in addition to having authored numerous publications on the use of nerve conduction studies in hand surgery. He has remained academic though and he is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopedics at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He is also a Clinical Professor of Electrophysiology at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professionals in Provo, Utah where he lectures on Electrodiagnostic studies. He is the past President of the Southern California Society for Surgery of the Hand and he is on a number of committees for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand including chairing the Publications and Products Advisory group 2010-2013. He was also a member of the American Academy of Orthopedics Distal Radius Fracture Guidelines committee from 2008-2009. He has chaired 20 national and international courses and recently organized a sold out course entitled the Electives in Hand Surgery for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, in New Orleans February 2008 in addition to chairing the ASSH Specialty Day at the AAOS meeting in New Orleans March 2010. He has presented over 78 scientific papers at national and International meetings throughout North America including the Mayo clinic twice and overseas meetings including Australia, Glasgow, Strasbourg, Barcellona, Milan and Hong Kong. He has served as a guest editor for an issue of the Atlas of the Hand Clinics on Nerve Injury and Repair and the Hand Clinics on Distal Radius fractures. He is currently editing a Hand clinics on Wrist and Small joint arthroscopy due March 2011. He has published 29 journal papers and he has written 37 book chapters and counting, including an invited chapter on Wrist Arthroscopy in the prestigious Greens Operative Hand Surgery (due 2010), as well as a chapter on Advances in Nerve Repair in Hunters Rehabilitation of the Hand (due 2010). He has edited or co-edited 6 books in Hand Surgery to date which include Nerve Repair, Distal Radius Fractures, Scaphoid Fractures, Wrist Arthroscopy and Wrist Surgery. He has produced over 100 surgical videos for a variety of book projects, many of which are included on this website, as well as a 1 hour DVD on "The Technique and Science of Nerve Grafting" for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand videotape library in 2009. He has been consultant reviewer for the Journal of Hand Surgery since 2004. His areas of interest include Wrist arthroscopy, nerve repair and reconstruction and minimally invasive treatment of distal radius fractures and scaphoid fractures, which have generated a number of publications. He recently designed a Nonbridging external fixator (The Fragment Specific Fixator) for the treatment of distal radius fractures which is FDA approved and is in clinical use. (updated 6/1/10)
Years In Practice 35
Primary Specialty

Orthopedic Surgeon

Education Microvascular Surgical Research using a rat model. University of Manitoba, Microvascular lab. March -May 1984.

Accredited Basic Microvascular Surgery Course. Loma Linda University Medical Center. August 1988.

AO/ASIF Hand Course. San Diego, CA April 26-1992 - May 1, 1992.

Physicians Fluoroscopy Course. Hoag Memorial Hospital, Newport Beach, CA February 5, 1994.

Endoscopic Carpal Tunnel Release Cadaver Course. Los Angeles, CA Oct 23, 1994.

Agee Endoscopic Carpal Tunnel Release Cadaver Course. Torrance, CA March 25, 1995.

Nerve conduction studies and EMG - private instruction Mike Skurja MPT, Arnold Tripp MPT 1998-1999

Wrist Arthroscopy 2000. Orthopedic Learning Center, Chicago, IL. August 4-6, 2000.

Wrist Arthroscopy: Current Techniques and Perspectives. Orthopedic Learning Center. Chicago, IL. May 18-19, 2001.

Thirteenth Annual Electroneuromyographic Symposium. Rocky Mountain University, Provo UT. April 25 -29, 2002.

AO/ASIF Hand Course. Miami, FL. May 31-June 2, 2002.

AO/ASIF Hand and Wrist Fracture Course. Coronado, CA. April 16-18, 2004.

Wrist and Elbow Arthroscopy. Orthopedic Learning Center. Chicago, IL. August 6-7, 2010.
Training Postgraduate Course in Orthopedics, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. July 1, 1982 - June 30, 1987. Directors: Garth Johnson M.D., Mervin Letts M.D.

Visiting Overseas Associate to the Plastic Surgery Unit, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia. With G. Ian Taylor M.D. April 1988 - May 1988

Hand & Microsurgical Fellowship, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Loma Linda University Medical Center. July 1, 1988 - June 30, 1989. Director: Virchel E. Wood M.D.
Affiliations Associate Professor, Dept of Orthopedics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Fellow, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Fellow, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons Member, American Society for Surgery of the Hand AO North America Faculty Member Member, International Wrist Investigators Workshop
Certification Recertification in Orthopedics September 2010
Recertification in Orthopedics August 2000
Qualified Medical Evaluator July 1994.
Certificate of Added Qualifications in Hand Surgery - obtained August 31, 1992.
American Orthopedic Board Exams July 12, 1991.
Canadian Orthopedic Board Exams November 17, 1987.
Map and Directions
2808 Columbia Street, TORRANCE, CA 90503
Services hand fractures, peripheral nerve reconstruction, distal radius fractures, scaphoid fractures, wrist arthroscopy, microvascular hand reconstruction
Consumer Feedback
(4 Reviews)
Service
1.5 star average for Service
Environment
1 star average for Environment
Expertise
2 star average for Expertise
Staff
5 star average for Staff
Recommended
3 star average for Recommended
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Recent Reviews
When I came to see Dr. Slutsky, he was the fifth doctor I had seen in 5 months for what I was told was a "career ending" injury. I am a 34 year-old firefighter who suffered a torn scapholunate ligament. The first doctor I was sent to misdiagnosed my injury, sent me through 2-1/2 months of therapy before doing a MRI, and subsequently turned a repairable injury into what was deemed a chronic and un-repairable injury because of the length of time without proper treatment. For that reason I sought a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and lastly a 5th opinion. Each doctor I saw gave me a different surgery option with none of them offering the same treatment.

In a desperate attempt to save my career and quality of life I conducted extensive research on my injury along with possible/available surgery options. I even looked into an experimental surgery being developed at Stanford. What I had learned was to properly classify my degree of injury and develop a well-designed surgery option; the surgeon must first arthroscopically inspect the damage. Once I had learned this, I had already seen 4 doctors who, without offering this form of inspection, told me in their office exactly how they would attempt to repair my ligament. I started to wonder how effective their treatments would be if they didn't perform the arthoscopic inspection.

When I went to see Dr. Slutsky, I was hoping for good news and for him to say he would arthroscopically inspect my injury prior to deciding how to repair it. Unfortunately, he agreed with all other doctors with the severity of my injury coupled with the length of time from injury to surgery (which at that time was about 8 months) was indeed as bad as I had been told. However, he thoroughly impressed me with what was said next. He told me that he did not know exactly how he would attempt to repair my injury until he arthroscopically inspected it. He explained that he had 3 different surgical repair options and depending on what he saw and exactly my ligament was torn would determine exactly how he would perform the repair. He followed up by telling me that before he would repair my ligament, he would also arthroscopically inspect all the surrounding ligaments, cartilage, and soft tissues and repair any secondary damage that he could prior to my primary ligament repair.

I was pleasantly surprised by this approach because no other doctor said they would arthroscopically repair any secondary damage prior to the primary repair. Actually, none of the other doctors even mentioned secondary damage. I heard what I wanted with the arthroscopic inspection and was impressed with the 3 different repair options depending on exactly how my ligament was torn (in the middle or off the bone). I was blown away with the thoroughness of his approach.

When I arrived for surgery the nurses asked how I found Dr. Slutsky. I told them I asked Google who was the “top hand surgeon in California” and Dr. Slutsky was one of the search results. The nurses told me he was the best and extremely competent. I was happy to hear their recommendation.

When I awoke, Dr. Slutsky informed me I had zero secondary damage to the surrounding tissues, that my ligament was torn right down the middle rather than off the bone which lead to surgery option one, the least invasive and best option for a quality repair. He said I had the best-case scenario despite the length of time that had passed since the injury. I was extremely pleased to hear this because all of the other surgical repair options offered from doctors 1 – 4 were much more invasive and some that were quite extreme. For example, doctor 3 suggested completely removing the bottom row of bones in my wrist, which included the scaphoid, lunate, and triquetral.

As the healing process began, my certified hand therapist said for the work that was done, I had extremely small scars and in her opinion, the doctor had done a fantastic job compared to what she had seen in other patients who passed through her clinic. My range of motion improved more than expected and my grip strength returned quicker and at a higher percentage than expected. It has been one year since my surgery and although I am not 100% I am at a point where I can continue to be a firefighter.

I am extremely happy with the treatment I received from Dr. Slutsky and would recommend him to anyone. His office is new, clean, and contains highly advanced equipment. He is the only doctor who had an X-ray machine that could project an image of the bones on a screen in front of us while actually performing movements with my hand. I describe it as a real-time X-ray machine. His staff has been wonderful by being professional and courteous. When arriving for appointments my wait times have been 15 minutes or less. Do yourself a favor and thoroughly review Dr. Slutsky’s resume and experience by clicking on the “about” tab on his website. I think his experience and education speaks for itself.
by Scott xxx.xxx.68.55
July 23, 2015
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Definitely, they seemed irritated to work with anyone
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I waited forever for my appointment!
Would you refer this provider to a family or friend?
No, If I had known how terrible they were I never would have gone.
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by Elizabeth xxx.xxx.91.27
July 11, 2013
Did this provider show attention to detail?
No, I was afraid they were going to forget something important
Does this provider adhere to the customer is always right policy?
No, it is their way or the highway
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Somewhat, they didn't want to listen to almost anything I said
Was it easy to find parking at this provider's office?
No, I had to pay for parking!
Are you confident that this provider will continue working with you until a solution is reached?
No, I'm always worried they're going to settle with a solution that isn't the best
by Anonymous xxx.xxx.91.27
May 27, 2013
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