Statement, History, FAQs, News

 Dr. Constantine is currently holding staff privileges at Kentucky River Medical Center in Jackson, KY.

The procedures he performs encompass the whole spectrum of general and minimally invasive surgery, including, but not limited to, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, appendectomy, single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS), splenectomy, adrenalectomy, colectomies, inguinal hernia repair, hiatal hernia repair and anti-reflux procedures, TAMIS (transanal minimally invasive surgery for rectal tumors), incisionless vasectomy, as well as "open" procedures and oncologic surgery. He is trained in the Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF) to treat Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). Dr. Constantine holds the "Patients' Choice Award" for eight consecutive years (2008-2015​), the "Compassionate Doctor Recognition" (2011-2015), the ​​"Top 10 Doctor - Alabama Surgeon" 2014 and ​the "On Time Doctor Award" (2014-2015) conferred by Vitals (http://spotlight.vitals.com) and the American Registry:"Your patients have selected you for the Patients' Choice Award for 2009.  You are a member of an elite group, Dr. Constantine. More than 800,000 patient reviews and ratings have been gathered, and this top rating has only been awarded to you and a select few of the nation's most beloved doctors. Congratulations.
Your patients have taken the time to compliment you in areas such as: your bedside manner, the amount of time you spend with them, the courtesy of your staff, appropriate follow-up, and their overall opinion of you as a physician. Quite simply, you are one of the best!"

U.S.News: https://health.usnews.com/doctors/radu-constantine-377875

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History
Born and raised in Bucharest, Romania, Dr. Constantine received his MD degree from the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy School of Medicine.His Surgical Residency was completed in June 2005 at Seton Hall University School of Graduate Medical Education (Saint Francis Medical Center in Trenton, NJ). In June 2006 Dr. Constantine graduated a comprehensive minimally invasive fellowship, training under Dr. Abdelkader Hawasli. During the fellowship, he was granted staff privileges at St. John Hospital Medical Center and Bon Secours Hospital, both in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

A wide variety of cases, including basic laparoscopy, advanced laparoscopy, open surgery and endoscopy were performed during the fellowship.

Dr. Constantine is certified in the laparoscopic Lap-Band placement, the Enterra treatment for gastroparesis, the endoscopic fundoplication for GERD, the procedure for prolapse and hemorrhoids, etc.

Dr. Constantine is practicing in Jackson, KY, with privileges at Kentucky River Medical Center.

He is Board Certified in General Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is a member of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeon (SAGES), the Society of Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgeons (SLS) and the  Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT).

While at Saint Michael's Medical Center he held an appointment as an Associate Professor of Surgery from St. George's University Caribbean Medical School in Grenada, West Indies and trained surgical residents, medical and emergency medicine residents, as well as medical and ostheopatic students from several universities.​ 

A very good friend of mine noted the fact that some consider "applying a BandAid" as an incomplete fix, similar with fixing something with Ducktape.

I felt she had a very good point, so here's the explanation for the name of the website:

Laparoscopic surgery has been around now for 36 years in the United States and a little longer in Europe. It is therefore a very well established way of doing things surgically in the 21st century. It's birth was difficult, there were many people involved, and met a lot of resistance (including the attempt to revoke the physician's license of the first surgeon that removed a gallbladder laparoscopically ever, which happened in Germany). 

One thing was, however, universal: Both proponents and opponents of laparoscopy called it "keyhole surgery" or "bandaid surgery". In the US, they also called it "laser surgery", as the surgeon that (until recently) was credited as being the first to do a laparoscopic gallbladder removal here in the US did it with a YAG laser (by the way, I was trained during my fellowship to use the same instrument).

So, the name BANDAID SURGERY does not mean surgery that provides a quick and incomplete fix. It is just the opposite. 

Laparoscopy requires aditional skills, that, depending on the complexity of the operation, require a lot of additional training and sometimes instruments (the "robot"), that cost more than 1 million dollars, to perform.

During my professional life, I saw, for instance, patients that stayed in the hospital for 14 days after a colon resection, half of that time starving, with a tube in their nose and one in their bladder, with a cut on their belly from stem to stem. I also saw, in my hands, and some of my colleagues with similar skills, patients with the exact same operation on the inside, done for the exact same problem, in the exact same type of patient, who walking out of the hospital in 3 days, even 2 days sometimes, after a surgery that is done through 3 cuts, the biggest being 2 and 3/4 inches and the other 2 less tha 1/4 inch. Yes, I have small hands, but still...

My patients, after a colon resection, wake up after surgery and are allowed to have clear liquids right away. They have no tube in their nose. If all goes well, they will have a regular (bland) diet next day at lunch. The day after that they will likely pass gas and the following day have a bowel movement and go home.

That, due to my version of a Bandaid Surgery...

                                                                                                     Dr. Constantine

The most important event is the relocation of my practice to Kentucky and my affiliation with a fantastic group of people at Kentucky River Medical Center.!

I am extremely excited to start serving the comunities of the Breathitt County and the surrounding counties and I am convinced that the mutual efforts of the Medical Center and I are going to provide the much needed surgical services to the population.

Real cases, real people ;-)

 Fellow, American College of Surgeons - (www.facs.org) - Society of American Gastrointestinal Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (www.sages.org) - Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons (www.sls.org) - Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (www.ssat.com) 

I am hopeful that soon we will be able to offer investigations and possible surgical treatment for GASTROPARESIS, a debilitating condition which affects the patient's quality of life by creating nausea, vomiting and the feeling of early stomach fullness. http://www.medtronic.com/us-en/patients/treatments-therapies/neurostimulator-gastroparesis/what-is-it.html

We will also be offering investigations and possible treatment for urine and stool incontinence as well as for constipation.

Call the office or go to bandaidsurgery.org for details. http://www.medtronic.com/us-en/patients/treatments-therapies/bowel-control.html

http://www.medtronic.com/us-en/patients/treatments-therapies/bladder-control.html

Kentucky River Medical Center is the FIFTH center in Kentucky to offer the TAMIS procedure for anal and rectal tumors (TransAnal Minimally Invasive Surgery). The others are in Lexington and Loisville. http://www.tamisurgery.com/find-a-surgeon

Patients have questions, we have answers. Here we'll display the most frequently asked questions, so everybody benefits.