Carlos Guanche, MD

In 2014, I had a torn Labrum and some arthritis growing in my right hip.
(I also had Obama Care’s crappier version of Covered California.)
Doctor Guanche is the only Orthopedic Surgeon, in the greater LA area, that would accept my Covered California Anthem Blue Cross insurance. Everybody else that I called were not taking any new patients as they were inundated by all of the new Covered California patients.
So I had my surgery and I just wanted to say thank you, to Doctor Guanche, for making me feel like he actually cared about me. He was very courteous and friendly. Some of the office staff were a bit short with me. But they were also really busy too. (My average office wait before seeing the Doctor was usually around 15 to 20 minutes.)
Thank you, Doctor Guanche.

Had my left hip surgery a year ago, and I feel great! Dr. Guanche is a knowledgeable, professional and highly skilled surgeon. He has wonderful bedside manner and was very attentive throughout the whole process, from pre-​op all the way to post-​op and recovery. I would recommend Dr. Guanche to anyone that has hip issues, without a doubt!

I had hip surgery a year ago. My surgery seems to have been a success, but I still have a lot of back pain. I believe that Dr. Guanche is a good surgeon, but like someone else mentioned here, once the surgery was over, he was «done» with me. During my last post-​op appt, I explained that I was still having excruciating back pain. He basically said that he had done the surgery, and that there was nothing else he could do and to go see a back doctor. Perhaps this was in fact the best next step, but it made me feel as though I was no longer his «problem».
It took weeks and often well over a month to get an appt. If the insurance hadn’t approved one of my post-​op appts, they wouldn’t schedule it… and we’re talking several months out. Come on, you know they will approve a post-​op appt. Because he was so busy, by the time it was approved by the insurance, I would have to wait several additional weeks for the appt. They could have scheduled it at that time, and then canceled if my insurance for some crazy reason had denied it. Again, I’m talking about scheduling a 15-​minute appt a few months out. It wouldn’t have killed them to just pencil me in.
SCOI as a whole is a bottleneck. Everyone you talk to says their hands are tied because of someone else or because they are waiting on something from someone else. My surgery was delayed months because of their inability to communicate efficiently and immediately with my insurance company. I felt like I was treated as a second-​class citizen because I had an HMO.
Finally, his nurse, Tina, is the most horrible person I have ever had to deal with. She is rude, unsympathetic, argumentative, defensive, and aggressive. Of course, I could never talk to the actual doctor or even his PA so I was often stuck having to ask her questions regarding my surgery (before and after). Even she was near impossible to get on the phone, but when you did talk to her she seemed to get frustrated, annoyed, and snippy.

Just had surgery about 3 weeks ago… so far so good. A little soon to judge properly.

1÷23÷15 This is an update to respond to a couple of things that Dr Guanche said in his response to my previous review. Firstly, I did not come in with a specific request. I specifically stated that we were asking him, as the surgeon, to explain a particular treatment that he sometimes does in conjunction with a hip arthroscope and labral repair, and whether he felt it necessary to do in my case. His answer to this question was to say he won’t know until he’s in preforming the surgery, and that if a psoas release made me nervous he didn’t have to do it. HE gave me the option, I didn’t request it, but when I accepted that option, he flipped. Just for further clarification, I have bilateral labrum tears caused by CAM FAI. (too much bone on top of the femur). Many patients who have what I have, develop tight psoas muscles because they change their gait in order to keep their weight off of their hips. As a result, this is often a secondary issue, not a primary issue. Dr Guanche potentially wanted to essentially cut several slits in the muscle so that it would stretch father (called a psoas release), but while in the appointment he specifically validated, when I asked, that a psoas muscle can be stretched just like any other muscle in the body. The reason why this entire conflict started is I wanted him, as the «expert», to help me understand why it was worth the risk of potentially loosing the ability to lift my leg, by cutting slits in a muscle, that can probably be fixed by stretching after the primary problem is treated. He never explained that. Instead he said, «If it makes you nervous, I don’t have to do a psoas release.» Seeing as how I had other consultations with top surgeons like Snibbe (who by the way is amazing! see him if you can) before seeing Dr. Guanche, and they do not do a psoas a release in conjunction with this procedure, I decided to take Dr. Guanche’s offer and not do the psoas release. As soon as I made that decision he got angry, and as stated before, used profanity and disrespect to assert his level of expertise, which was never in question. It concerns me that a professional in his position would do this to bully patients into procedures they aren’t fully comfortable with. As seen below, other patients have had the same issue, and I have several emails that I can forward to anyone interested from other past patients (who have not left reviews) who had the same experience with him. Unfortunately for them, they gave into the pressure of a psoas release and can no longer lift their leg to do things like bend over and put their pants on. Furthermore, I want to address his statement that I got my information on a website, though I did do some research on psoas releases, the sources I mostly got my information from was two other surgeons, a physical therapist, a chiropractor, and a doctor who all warned me extensively. I only get one set of legs. As a logical person, I could completely understand why the surgeon would have got mad if I had treated the surgery like a personal pizza, requesting every little part be tailored to the way a wanted it, but that wasn’t the case here. We were taking him up on his offer to not perform a surgery on a muscle that may be perfectly healthy. In addition, the doctor states that I wanted him to sign something. I have no earthly idea where that came from. I never asked the doctor to sign anything, nor did I have any paperwork for him, so that’s either a complete lie, or he’s referring to something in his own stack of documentation that he required me to sign authorizing him to do the surgery.
I also want to address the fact that Dr Guanche pointed out a potential pattern in some of his negative reviews. My take is that when a pattern emerges in negative reviews, it generally isn’t the patient, but the the problem lies with the one being reviewed be it’s often hard to see our own issues single-​handly, but when many people begin noticing the same issue, it’s time to take note. I don’t doubt that Dr Guanche is a qualified surgeon. We would not have traveled 4+ hours to see him if we did, but I did not want to allow the dr to take any unnecessary risks on my body when the stakes are high. The point in all of this is, despite the difference in opinions here, it is NEVER okay for a surgeon to speak to patients in the manner in which he spoke to me and my husband. He did not deny his out right lack of respect, nor did he ever apologize, only justified; and furthermore, it doesn’t make sense to offer a patient a course a treatment and then pull the procedure because you don’t like the choice they made. If any of you have any questions, please contact me as I can give even more compelling documentation to how this surgeon behaves in his appointments which appears to be entirely different than the calm logical responses made to Unilocal reviews. In any case, good luck with the decision you make.

Dr. Guanche is a skilled surgeon! He repaired my torn hamstring tendon. This is a rare procedure only a handful of doctors know how to perform. I traveled half way across the country have this done. I had not met Dr. Guanche prior to the day of my surgery. But I was impressed because I did receive a phone call from him directly and was able to ask him questions before I decided to have the surgery. Thankfully, his office was able to schedule my pre-​op appointment in the morning and my surgery the same afternoon in his surgery center in the same building without me having to make two separate trips. My husband is an orthopedic surgeon as well, but was not able to join me on the trip. My surgery was done arthroscopically so I asked Dr. Guanche if he could film it so my husband and I could watch it later. He graciously did so. My husband, a skilled surgeon himself, was thoroughly impressed. He commented that Dr. Guanches’ knowledge and surgical skills in that area are top notch. I may need to have a similar procedure done on my other hip eventually and I will be going back to Dr Guanche!

I’ve had 2 surgeries performed Dr. Guanche on my right leg. The first one was 3 years ago to repair my torn hip labral. The second one was almost 1 year ago for a torn knee ACL.
I LOVE Dr. Guanche! It is because of him that I can walk.
He never rushed me into surgery. With each injury, he prescribed PT first. Only after PT did not work and the pain was so acute that I could no longer walk, did we turn to surgery.
The man is ground breaking and because of that people confuse his confidence with arrogance. I have seen him no less that 12 visits and he has always been the same professional and caring man.
I recently complained of pain and limited motion in my right shoulder and MRI revealed a deposit of minerals/​calcium. Dr. Guanche recommended PT and I’m doing water therapy and to date feeling great!

I saw Dr Guanche for torn labrum. He was very quick to convince me that surgery was my only option. Waiting time was always 1 — ¹¹⁄₂ hours. First impression, he seemed caring and knowledgeable. After surgery, he had absolutely no interest, curt arrogant and cold. He wouldn’t talk to me on the phone and made me drive 2 hours to discuss my issues with his PA who is knowledgeable but not a doctor. My recovery was long and still have pain 2 years later, I could not sit for a year and his suggestion was a 2^nd surgery. His assistant at the time was a nightmare. I believe he has left. They did not communicate with my PT which I believe is imperative. I have spent thousands of $$$ on PT and still going. Be wise and make the right choice. You only want to do this once. Someone previously described this practice as a drive through experience. quite accurate.

At 29, I went to see Dr. Guanche after I had torn my labrum and could barely walk. I researched several doctors from San Diego to LA. I met with the other orthopedic surgeons and I had all of them review my films/​images and they said they couldn’t help me. The reasons I chose Dr. Guanche are because of his impressive background, awards and his extensive knowledge. He explained to me my options and what the expected outcome could be for me. Dr. Guanche is the only physician that took the time to answer all of my questions in his office, as well as after I got home and had more, he and his staff were quick to respond. He genuinely cares about his patients, their health and well-​being. Dr. Guanche is one of 12 orthopedic surgeons in the nation that is held with such high regard amongst his peers and performs at such an exceptional level– from your everyday case/​patient to the difficult to diagnose and treat. I would recommend Dr. Guanche to anyone in need of an orthopedic surgeon. He is the reason I am able to walk again.

After an MRI with contrast confirmed that I suffered a labral tear of my right hip, my ortho doc said I would need arthroscopic surgery. Since he doesn’t do arthroscopic surgery, I was referred to Dr.Guanche. I had read online about how some people may heal with physical therapy, but being in the medical field and knowing surgeons the way I do, I fully expected Dr. Guanche to schedule me for surgery straight away. After a physical examination and review of my X-​Rays (x-​rays done in his office) and MRI’s, Dr. Guanche recommended I try physical therapy and follow up with him after a month. He even went so far as to candidly tell me that I could find great physical therapists closer to home instead of traveling to his clinic; which he would profit from. I was so pleasantly surprised by his honesty and warm bed side manner which is seldom seen with ortho surgeons. The office staff was polite and professional and I was in and out within an hour.