Edward Rustamzadeh, MD PHD

He is the best. I had a low back fusion. I am pleased with the results. He answered all my questions and his office staff is very helpful. I would not hesitate sending family and friends to him.

The best Dr., Surgeon & human being…
My father had a back/​spine surgery with him & he couldn’t ask for a better Dr. Than him.
Kudos Dr. Edward
U deserve 7 stars

Dr Edward Rustamzadeh is like god to me .
He is not the chatty type, he is very knowledgeable as we’ll diligent neuro surgeon. His way is process of elimination to troubleshoot the exact problem I had made me very comfortable with surgery as my decision.
First of all — I don’t get these negative reviews, it takes a lot to be the best surgeon for Stanford .
I know that I will be feeling good soon as I recover, as my surgery was a week ago .
I have called numerous times to his office and they are outstanding in follow up which is very important to have a good office staff.
To be exact David was above and beyond including his co worker’s name I don’t remember .
Thank you all for your hardwork and I will recommend dr Rustamzadeh for anyone that needs surgery .
I’m going in for a back surgery soon ‚
And will definitely be coming back
Thank you all
God bless
Montie Singh

I had a situation similar to Naomi’s review. I was told my surgery was pretty typical and would take about 2 hours. (C-​spine fusion surgery on C4−5 and C5−6). It took over 4 hours and after the surgery my mom (who was waiting and very nervous) was told everything went «as expected» as he rushed off. It wasn’t until my mom got to me and I told her, I can’t move my right arm or hand… that we realized something was wrong. My entire right arm was paralyzed and when I saw Dr. Rustamzadeh for about 10 minutes the following morning he told me it would be fine within 2 weeks. He was wrong. It is almost a year later and I am still trying to rehab my arm and shoulder. In addition to that, when I called to tell his office that I wanted to see him about my arm/​should issue I was told that he operated on my neck and that I would only been seen regarding my neck at my three month post op appointment. They actually told me, «He isn’t interested in treating your arm…» When I started to present symptoms in my OTHER arm and I called again, I was once again told that he wasn’t interested in seeing me for anything other than my neck. Also the pain meds that his office had prescribed for me was set to run out so I called the pharmacy so they could get his approval a full 10 days before I ran out. I kept calling back the pharmacy and they told me he hadn’t returned their call. So I started calling the office myself and it was during the holidays so I couldn’t get anyone. I ran out of my medication and proceeded to go through such a horrible detox that I almost ended up in the hospital again (this is apparently NOT a drug that you can stop cold turkey). Then a full two weeks after I had requested the refill I got a message from his office saying they weren’t going to refill it because it was too far out from surgery and that I would have to find another doctor to prescribe it if I wanted to continue. I have no issues with that being the outcome, but if someone had told me that when I actually requested the refill I could have avoided the horrific detox.
I am now about 10 months out from my surgery and my arm and shoulder are still not functioning properly. At the request of my PT, I had to go see another doctor who was «interested» in treating me for my shoulder and arm issues. And have since been referred back to another neurosurgeon because my pain levels are back at what they were pre-​surgery.
Dr. Rustamzadeh is a skilled surgeon. As my new surgeon described him, he is a «skilled technician,» but that’s where it ends. If you need pre or post-​op care, this is NOT the doctor for you. Or if you would prefer a doctor that actually listens to his patients, don’t choose him.

My experience will never be repeated since his bedside manner leaves a great deal to be desired. (my husband is an M.D.and would never be so rude.) His treatment was temporary, and left me in worse shape than when I went in.

Prior to Dr. Rustamzadeh’s, over the last 60+ years I’ve had four surgeries under general anesthesia, one an open-​heart aortic valve replacement. Dr. Rustamzadeh performed a three-​hour (exactly as he forecasted) microscopic (not endoscopic) bilateral lumbar laminotomy in six locations on my spine at Good Sam ~ a month ago. First and foremost, I can walk again — upright. My legs actually do what I tell them. I can sneeze and cough without being driven to my knees in agony. I am pain-​meds free (prescription and OTC) for the first time in years. Not helping with my pre-​op anxiety, prior to my surgery I read an uncomplimentary review regarding Dr. Rustamzadeh but chose to go forward as my cardiologist/​PCP is batting 1.000 with his referrals as well as my previous positive experiences with Stanford doctors/​surgeons. Because my awesome results speak for themselves, I wouldn’t have cared if Dr. Rustamzadeh were Dr. Frank Burns from M.A.S.H. I spent one night in Good Sam, which, by the way, was an excellent experience — staff is wonderful in pre-​op testing, morning pre-​op preparation and post-​op care. During my brief stay as a no-​risk/​no-​complications patient, Dr. Rustamzadeh dropped by no less than three times assessing my condition and issuing change orders as necessary. After my release, twice my wife called the Dr. through the office/​exchange with questions. Within a half-​hour she had her answer to one (on a surgery day, no less!) and actually spoke with Dr. Rustamzadeh very late one night for another (we thought) more pressing issue. So far, I’ve had three office visits during which I was seen either on time or early. Is Dr. Rustamzadeh bedside chit-​chatty? Nope. He doesn’t appear to have too much time for that. He is efficient, quick, experienced, knowledgeable and communicates well with laymen on an understandable level. More importantly, did he change my life and my outlook for the future? Yes. And the real acid test: my (2x cancer survivor) wife was happy with our experience.

Wow, this is a tough one. Coming from a family of nurses and surgeons I typically don’t respond to «feeling» words like «compassion, bedside manner, caring» etc. Since I know every member of my family has these things since they chose the medical profession and spent the time to accomplish it. They also show it in VERY different ways. I will not speak to these thing. Overall I think Dr. Rustamzadeh certainly knows his area of specialty, is highly respected as a surgeon amongst his peers and I trust him with the decision of whether or not to have surgery. Where I feel he failed in my pre and post surgery was in his communication with me in regards to MY particular situation, how the surgery MAY impact MY body and condition and overall follow-​up. He was referred by a Dr. (Dr. Justin Lo is AMAZING) that after 18 months and seeing an Ortho, physiatrist, PT, 3 MRI’s, 4 spinal injections, identified the root cause of my issue (not common apparently), educated me and personally referred me to him. The initial visit, was straight forward. He did a physical exam that reproduced my symptoms and I was 100% confident surgery was right for me. I had to call his office twice to ask for pre-​op instructions (I will give them it was only a few days between initial and surgery) and didn’t speak to Dr. Rustamzadeh until the morning of the surgery. I had a complex surgery that was supposed to take an hour or so and took 3, my husband got VERY little information and post op was told everything went as expected. That’s great right? Expect that I was in excruciating pain post-​op which he did manage with ALOT of meds and only after I was very assertive that something wasn’t quite right. The hospital stay was overnight and for the first few hours after I was in the room went normal. I had amazing nurses and staff and felt fine. Something went wrong and my body did not react as expected. Not to get into details but the nurses easily seeing I was at a pain level of 8 – 9 began calling Dr. Rustamzadeh, Four calls, 3 shifts, 5 hours later and a charge nurse calling his service, then his supervisor, finally resorted to to the head of neurosurgery for that hospital in order to get my pain under control. The 3 rd shift overnight nurse was able to get a hold of him (he called back) and did what he needed to do. I am a week post op, better but for pain management I had to go back to my original referring doctor since my body was again not reacting to what appears to be the «traditional» way. Not one call or follow-​up from the person who spent 3 hours and performed surgery. Do I respect him in his knowledge? Yes. Do I trust him as a surgeon? Yes. Do I think he will do well. Yes. However, I cannot imagine any one in my family performing surgery on some one (my brother is a surgeon) and being unreachable for HOURS after for post-​op care. That is my problem. I think there are plenty of great neurosurgeon’s out there can absolutely do both. I am unsure Dr. Rustamzadeh is one of them.

Dr Rustamzadeh is by far the best surgeon he took care of me called to make sure I was doing ok he’s my surgeon for life he is the BEST, I went to see my old surgeon about my neck: Dr Wacchhorst
and after him being rude to me he said I see nothing Thank God Dr Rustamzadeh can see and read what no one else can also the radiologist who read my CT and MRI saw what no one else saw forget valley radiology and Silicon Valley radiology I go every 3 mos for test they saw nothing I went to Los Gatos El Camino Hospital and they found everything Thank God! Dr. Rustamzadeh took such good care of me I can’t compare it to anyone he is Amazing and Good Samaritan Hospital was the Best, my Dr for life My Hospital for life.

I recently had a complex spinal surgery performed by Dr. Rustamzadeh, with a better than expected outcome. He was thorough in answering questions pre– and post op, was kind and concerned. I am very pleased with my choice of surgeons.