Dr. Stephen Engstrom did my left knee replacement on 5/21/24. It detached itself inside the knee in less than 1 month and the surgery had to be completely redone on 6/28/24. I was at Vanderbilt University Medical Center for 6 days and he never came in one single time. One of the residents told me that they had used the wrong sized implant and that no bone cement was used. I was told after the first surgery that no bone cement was needed because the bone was "in good condition", yet the preop x-rays showed "severe degenerative osteoarthritis and bone loss" in the left knee. So which was it? Still have not gotten a straight answer out of him or anyone there. I am so pissed off it is hard to even write this. After missing so much work, I was threatened with being fired by my employer, but fortunately, I had all these medical records to back me up and HR could not hold me responsible for these complications. Then, added to that, I got an infection. On the night of Sept 1, 2024, a hole opened up in the incision and there was blood and tissue fluid draining out of the hole. I also saw a large white bump to the right of the incision, and when you pushed on it, you could hear a sloshing noise and more fluid came out. I bandaged it up as it was too late that night to go to the local ER here in Jackson TN, and I knew that if I went I'd just sit there all night and wait. So the next morning I packed a bag and went up to the ER myself. A friend came to see me when I called her and brought some other things I would need that I had forgotten to pack in my hurry. They took me up to Vanderbilt again by ambulance early in the morning on Sept 2, 2024. At this point, I had cellulitis in my leg. I was in the ER for some hours before he ever showed up; an infectious disease doctor who specializes in orthopedic infections came in to take a look at me, Dr. Patricia Wright, and she saved my leg. She said, "I have been dealing with orthopedic infections for 20 years and I know these guys and how to talk to them. You let me deal with him!" and she marched off to call him. He came flying in there not too long after that, looking as if he had been stung by a nest of bees. At that point, the hole was draining pus. When he sat down to look at it, a stream of pus shot out and narrowly missed him. I was in the hospital for another 6 days, on IV antibiotics and a wound-vac. They took me back in the OR on Sept 6, 2024 to surgically drain the abscess, which had occurred because the stitching under the skin had either not absorbed or had come out, I am not sure which. At any rate, it had to be looked at and they did , fortunately find that the infection had not penetrated into the artificial joint at all; it remained safe. I did finally go back to work full-time, but then the infection recurred, in the same place as before, on Jan 21, 2025. Luckily it was not as severe. I immediately went to my internist and got on oral antibiotics, and contacted the infectious disease department at Vanderbilt to let them know what was going on. Dr. Katie Davis White did a Telehealth visit with me, and changed the antibiotic the internist had prescribed. My internist, however, Dr. Ryan Nerland of the Jackson Clinic in Medina TN, did a wonderful job in treating me. I also had 2 injections of a powerful antibiotic, Rocephin, which did a great job of knocking it out quickly. He and his nurse also got me in to a local infectious disease specialist, Dr. Casey Zelus, who did a great job in re-evaluating me. I also had an ultrasound and found out that all the time, I had been dealing with a cystic hematoma. That was what the bump was, and when asked, Dr. Engstrom said he had "no idea what it was". He never even ordered an ultrasound or any tests to determine what was going on. My last visit with him was Oct 21, 2024, and at that time he wrote in the clinic notes that I was "very satisfied with knee". I never said that. I only said that I thought it would improve given time, NOT that I was satisfied with it. At this point, because it had to be done twice, I am still having a lot of stiffness and swelling and can hardly climb stairs--luckily I don't have any where I live or where I work. I also have fallen behind in rent and car payments because I missed so much work due to these complications and I had to live on a short term disability insurance that hardly paid enough to live on, but I had no choice. Meanwhile, he gets paid THREE TIMES and the hospital bill was over $200,000 (luckily Aetna did not pay them nearly that amount). Please stay far away from Vanderbilt Orthopedics. read more