"I have been practicing orthopedic surgery at Hospital Angeles Tijuana since it opened in 2004"

	Dr. Dario Garin Orthopedic Surgeon Member, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons

In addition to hip resurfacing and replacement, I deal with a lot of sports injuries in my work with a professional baseball team and professional soccer team. I am a member in good standing of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.

I love orthopedic surgery. It is so important, to be able to see how as a surgeon I can change a patient's life in a positive way. When you see a patient crippled by pain or deformity, and you see them the next day after surgery walking, I feel a great sense of accomplishment that I am able to help them in that way.

Recently I had a patient who had septic arthritis of the hip when she was small. Essentially, her hip was dislocated, with a 13 cm discrepancy in her leg. It was a complicated surgery that required us to cut off a piece of bone and perform bone grafts. Today, there is no discrepancy and she has resumed a normal and active life. It is very gratifying to be able to help someone like her, who has suffered so much pain and could easily have become permanently crippled.

We get patients as young as 24, up to age 60. We even have a patient for whom we did hip resurfacing on the right hip in 2008--this year we are doing the resurfacing on the left hip as well.

I feel very blessed to work at Hospital Angeles Tijuana. This is the best, most advanced hospital in Mexico, with the same technology as the best hospitals in the U.S.--for example, we use the exact same implants for hip and knee replacement. Our patients from the US are always impressed at the quality of care they receive here.

It is interesting how many of our U.S. patients tell us that back home they often do not meet their surgeon until after the surgery, if at all. Here, the surgeon typically expects to have a strong relationship of trust and communication with the patient.

Most of our orthopedic medical travelers come to us for hip resurfacing, total knee, or total hip replacement, also ACL reconstruction and arthroscopic procedures.

I've worked with many American patients. Usually the patient stays here for 7-10 days after the surgery. We always use a trauma prophylactic--compressive stockings etc.--to help patients avoid blood clots, so even a relatively long flight won't be a problem. I always follow up with patients by phone or email--it is important to make sure that they are recovering well, with minimum pain, and gaining the mobility and flexibility they have not had for so long.