Duncan B. Ackerman's Online Review Report Card

Such an amazing staff & great patient care.

I would like to give this surgeon a negative or zero rating. In March 2019 I tore the rotator cuff in my right shoulder while painting our home (It was not a fall as indicated in Dr. Ackerman’s July 24th 2019 surgery report). Unfortunately, I also needed a hip replacement (April 2019) and nothing was done with the right shoulder until I had recovered from the hip replacement. Prior to the July 24th 2019 surgery I was told by Dr. Ackerman that there was a 90+% chance that a reverse shoulder replacement would need to be done rather than a repair. The surgery report discusses why the repair was the surgery choice but there is no discussion of why the ball (humeral head) needed to be increased in size. I was told AFTER the surgery that it was to “stabilize” the joint. On August 13th, 2020 Dr. Ackerman performed a left reverse shoulder replacement. At the follow-up appointment (one year) for the left shoulder on August 27, 2021, Dr. Ackerman requested that I raise my right arm over my head to see how I was doing on the right shoulder. He noticed that I had a “twinge” (A grimace might be more appropriate). Throughout the Fall of 2021 the pain in the right shoulder continued to increase. It reached the point where it hurt to lift a small dish into the cupboard. Sleeping and general physical activities became painful/difficult; I could not lift my right arm above shoulder height without excruciating pain. In January 2022 I consulted the Florida surgeon who had initially examined me following the rotator cuff tear after the painting activity in March/April 2019. I went through an additional 5 weeks of painful physical therapy to determine if it was possible to stretch 65-year-old+ muscles and tendons over a 25% larger joint – it was not. On March 17, 2022 a total reverse replacement surgery was performed. The surgery required 2.5 hours and the joint had to be rebuilt with bone chips, BMP putty and screws. Once the pain block wore off, the pain was intense. When orthopedic surgeons operate on the same joint a second or third time, they generally go in through the same incision. The staples were removed on approximately March 24th. Over the next weekend, the incision began bleeding and I returned to the surgeon’s office on March 30, 2022. I had developed a hematoma under the incision and a second surgery was performed on March 31st to put in a drain tube. Cultures taken after the second surgery indicated that I had developed an infection which required 6 weeks of antibiotics through a PIC line administered by my wife. The copay/out of pocket cost of the antibiotics was over $2,200. I will be doing some physical therapy for my shoulders for the remainder of my life. I attempted to find an attorney but North Dakota has a $500,000 limit on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits so no out-of-state firm would take my case . One of the Bismarck firms would not take my case because they were fearful that a Bone & Joint Center P.C. (Bone & Joint) surgeon might do a lesser quality surgery if they knew the attorney/patient had won a malpractice case against Bone & Joint! I did locate a Board-certified surgeon who would have testified that the procedure performed by Dr. Ackerman was a “deviation from the standard of care”. My Florida surgeon would not speculate on why the bigger ball was used but the bottom line is Dr. Ackerman was too lazy to perform a difficult procedure; he took the easy way out. If even one potential patient doesn't have a surgery performed by this surgeon, this post will have done some good.

I would like to give this surgeon a negative or zero rating. In March 2019 I tore the rotator cuff in my right shoulder while painting our home (It was not a fall as indicated in Dr. Ackerman’s July 24th 2019 surgery report). Unfortunately, I also needed a hip replacement (April 2019) and nothing was done with the right shoulder until I had recovered from the hip replacement. Prior to the July 24th 2019 surgery I was told by Dr. Ackerman that there was a 90+% chance that a reverse shoulder replacement would need to be done rather than a repair. The surgery report discusses why the repair was the surgery choice but there is no discussion of why the ball (humeral head) needed to be increased in size. I was told AFTER the surgery that it was to “stabilize” the joint. On August 13th, 2020 Dr. Ackerman performed a left reverse shoulder replacement. At the follow-up appointment (one year) for the left shoulder on August 27, 2021, Dr. Ackerman requested that I raise my right arm over my head to see how I was doing on the right shoulder. He noticed that I had a “twinge” (A grimace might be more appropriate). Throughout the Fall of 2021 the pain in the right shoulder continued to increase. It reached the point where it hurt to lift a small dish into the cupboard. Sleeping and general physical activities became painful/difficult; I could not lift my right arm above shoulder height without excruciating pain. In January 2022 I consulted the Florida surgeon who had initially examined me following the rotator cuff tear after the painting activity in March/April 2019. I went through an additional 5 weeks of painful physical therapy to determine if it was possible to stretch 65-year-old+ muscles and tendons over a 25% larger joint – it was not. On March 17, 2022 a total reverse replacement surgery was performed. The surgery required 2.5 hours and the joint had to be rebuilt with bone chips, BMP putty and screws. Once the pain block wore off, the pain was intense. When orthopedic surgeons operate on the same joint a second or third time, they generally go in through the same incision. The staples were removed on approximately March 24th. Over the next weekend, the incision began bleeding and I returned to the surgeon’s office on March 30, 2022. I had developed a hematoma under the incision and a second surgery was performed on March 31st to put in a drain tube. Cultures taken after the second surgery indicated that I had developed an infection which required 6 weeks of antibiotics through a PIC line administered by my wife. The copay/out of pocket cost of the antibiotics was over $2,200. I will be doing some physical therapy for my shoulders for the remainder of my life. I attempted to find an attorney but North Dakota has a $500,000 limit on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits so no out-of-state firm would take my case . One of the Bismarck firms would not take my case because they were fearful that a Bone & Joint Center P.C. (Bone & Joint) surgeon might do a lesser quality surgery if they knew the attorney/patient had won a malpractice case against Bone & Joint! I did locate a Board-certified surgeon who would have testified that the procedure performed by Dr. Ackerman was a “deviation from the standard of care”. My Florida surgeon would not speculate on why the bigger ball was used but the bottom line is Dr. Ackerman was too lazy to perform a difficult procedure; he took the easy way out. If even one potential patient doesn't have a surgery performed by this surgeon, this post will have done some good.

I would like to give this surgeon a negative or zero rating. In March 2019 I tore the rotator cuff in my right shoulder while painting our home (It was not a fall as indicated in Dr. Ackerman’s July 24th 2019 surgery report). Unfortunately, I also needed a hip replacement (April 2019) and nothing was done with the right shoulder until I had recovered from the hip replacement. Prior to the July 24th 2019 surgery I was told by Dr. Ackerman that there was a 90+% chance that a reverse shoulder replacement would need to be done rather than a repair. The surgery report discusses why the repair was the surgery choice but there is no discussion of why the ball (humeral head) needed to be increased in size. I was told AFTER the surgery that it was to “stabilize” the joint. On August 13th, 2020 Dr. Ackerman performed a left reverse shoulder replacement. At the follow-up appointment (one year) for the left shoulder on August 27, 2021, Dr. Ackerman requested that I raise my right arm over my head to see how I was doing on the right shoulder. He noticed that I had a “twinge” (A grimace might be more appropriate). Throughout the Fall of 2021 the pain in the right shoulder continued to increase. It reached the point where it hurt to lift a small dish into the cupboard. Sleeping and general physical activities became panful/difficult; I could not lift my right arm above shoulder height without excruciating pain. In January 2022 I consulted the Florida surgeon who had initially examined me following the rotator cuff tear after the painting activity in March/April 2019. I went through an additional 5 weeks of painful physical therapy to determine if it was possible to stretch 65-year-old+ muscles and tendons over a 25% larger joint – it was not. On March 17, 2022 a total reverse replacement surgery was performed. The surgery required 2.5 hours and the joint had to be rebuilt with bone chips, BMP putty and screws. Once the pain block wore off, the pain was intense. When orthopedic surgeons operate on the same joint a second or third time, they generally go in through the same incision. The staples were removed on approximately March 24th. Over the next weekend, the incision began bleeding and I returned to the surgeon’s office on March 30, 2022. I had developed a hematoma under the incision and a second surgery was performed on March 31st to put in a drain tube. Cultures taken after the second surgery indicated that I had developed an infection which required 6 weeks of antibiotics through a PIC line administered by my wife. The copay/out of pocket cost of the antibiotics was over $2,200. I will be doing some physical therapy for my shoulders for the remainder of my life. I attempted to find an attorney but North Dakota has a $500,000 limit on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits so no out-of-state firm would take my case . One of the Bismarck firms would not take my case because they were fearful that a Bone & Joint Center P.C. (Bone & Joint) surgeon might do a lesser quality surgery if they knew the attorney/patient had won a malpractice case against Bone & Joint! I did locate a Board-certified surgeon who would have testified that the procedure performed by Dr. Ackerman was a “deviation from the standard of care”. My Florida surgeon would not speculate on why the bigger ball was used but the bottom line is Dr. Ackerman was too lazy to perform a difficult procedure; he took the easy way out. If even one potential patient doesn't have a surgery performed by this surgeon, this post will have done some good.

I would like to give this surgeon a negative or zero rating. In March 2019 I tore the rotator cuff in my right shoulder while painting our home (It was not a fall as indicated in Dr. Ackerman's July 24th 2019 surgery report). Unfortunately, I also needed a hip replacement (April 2019) and nothing was done with the right shoulder until I had recovered from the hip replacement. Prior to the July 24th 2019 surgery I was told by Dr. Ackerman that there was a 90+% chance that a reverse shoulder replacement would need to be done rather than a repair. The surgery report discusses why the repair was the surgery choice but there is no discussion of why the ball (humeral head) needed to be increased in size. I was told AFTER the surgery that it was to "stabilize" the joint. On August 13th, 2020 Dr. Ackerman performed a left reverse shoulder replacement. At the follow-up appointment (one year) for the left shoulder on August 27, 2021, Dr. Ackerman requested that I raise my right arm over my head to see how I was doing on the right shoulder. He noticed that I had a "twinge" (A grimace might be more appropriate). Throughout the Fall of 2021 the pain in the right shoulder continued to increase. It reached the point where it hurt to lift a small dish into the cupboard. Sleeping and general physical activities became painful/difficult; I could not lift my right arm above shoulder height without excruciating pain. In January 2022 I consulted the Florida surgeon who had initially examined me following the rotator cuff tear after the painting activity in March/April 2019. I went through an additional 5 weeks of painful physical therapy to determine if it was possible to stretch 65-year-old+ muscles and tendons over a 25% larger joint - it was not. On March 17, 2022 a total reverse replacement surgery was performed. The surgery required 2.5 hours and the joint had to be rebuilt with bone chips, BMP putty and screws. Once the pain block wore off, the pain was intense. When orthopedic surgeons operate on the same joint a second or third time, they generally go in through the same incision. The staples were removed on approximately March 24th. Over the next weekend, the incision began bleeding and I returned to the surgeon's office on March 30, 2022. I had developed a hematoma under the incision and a second surgery was performed on March 31st to put in a drain tube. Cultures taken after the second surgery indicated that I had developed an infection which required 6 weeks of antibiotics through a PIC line administered by my wife. The copay/out of pocket cost of the antibiotics was over $2,200. I will be doing some physical therapy for my shoulders for the remainder of my life. I attempted to find an attorney but North Dakota has a $500,000 limit on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits so no out-of-state firm would take my case . One of the Bismarck firms would not take my case because they were fearful that a Bone & Joint Center P.C. (Bone & Joint) surgeon might do a lesser quality surgery if they knew the attorney/patient had won a malpractice case against Bone & Joint! I did locate a Board-certified surgeon who would have testified that the procedure performed by Dr. Ackerman was a "deviation from the standard of care". My Florida surgeon would not speculate on why the bigger ball was used but the bottom line is Dr. Ackerman was too lazy to perform a difficult procedure; he took the easy way out. If even one potential patient doesn't have a surgery performed by this surgeon, this post will have done some good.

Caring, patient and and willing to listen. All around great doc.

My first time to the Bone & Joint and with Dr Ackerman for a shoulder appointment. He was very down to earth to talk and his concerns with explaining the next steps we are going to take. I am very happy with my appointment!

Super easy to talk to, gave detailed explanations that were easy to understand without making me feel like I was 12 years old. I'm actually looking forward to working with him and his entire team!

Great guy, great surgeon, been going to him for years, won’t go to anyone else.

Everyone was so helpful and you couldn't ask for a better doctor than Dr. Ackerman. He gave clear and concise explanations and listened to my concerns. I love how he gave me the options and let me decide which route to go. Working with everyone there was a "painless" experience.