Steven P. Petrou, MD

Dr. Petrou installed an Artificial Sphincter in my husband who was perfectly healthy with no pain before the surgery. After the surgery he had pain in the testicle where the device was not installed and he had tailbone pain. When we went to have the sphincter activated Dr. Petrou barely spent any time with us and said if he was still in pain in a month to come back. We then came back in a month only for Dr. Petrou to NOT see my husband at all. A nurse had a couple of tests performed and we were told that the sphincter and operation was fine and was told to see Pain Management. In the 15 months following the surgery, my husband had 6 nerve blocks and a device installed in his spinal canal to interrupt the pain signal to his brain. None of these relieved his pain. My husband through self examination found that some of his pain was coming from the cuff around the uretha tube. Dr. Petrou should have found this if he had bothered to exam my husband or spend time figuring out why he had… pain. We then went to Cleveland Clinic for a second opinion and we were told that something was terribly wrong and the surgeon had never seen anything like this. He recommended having the sphincter removed. We had Dr. Petrou remove the sphincter and he found and I quote "a hole in his stomach where fluid was leaking out" He stated that he "fixed the hole and my husband's pain should be gone". We then asked Dr. Petrou about the hole and he said he didn't know how it got there. Our local urologist said it best "he obviously put the hole there, people just don't develop holes in their bodies". After coming back home, my husband's tailbone pain was awful, he could only lay in bed and couldn't even sit up. When I talked to Dr. Petrou about his pain, he said to wait 3 or 4 months. He didn't offer to see him, didn't prescribe pain medicine, nothing (once again). My husband lost all hope and committed suicide 5 days after that phone call (10 days after having the sphincter removed). He stated in his suicide letter that he couldn't continue to be in this awful pain. Obviously, I don't recommend Dr. Petrou.

Total concern for the patient. Follow up was unprecedented by any other Doctor I have ever seen. I had a complicated problem and went to Dr. Petrou in the beginning of 2014 and shortly after I had surgery. I was advised that I may need a follow up surgery due to the severity of the first surgery. He gave me an appropriate amount of time to heal and tried several other options before the decision for follow up surgery was made. I am having that surgery next week and have complete confidence in Dr. Petrou.

Dr. Petrou was my husbands Physician for 7 years before he passed away 3+ years ago. He was the most favorite Physican my husband had. He was always professional,willing to listen,and had a bedside manner not seen in many Physicians. I have recommended him to other patients who follow up with a call thanking me for this recommendation. Mayo Clinic is better served by having Dr. Petrou as part of their Staff.