Operation Report

[foreveryoung]

Can anyone tell me if there is and operation report required to be filled out after surgery? Something like, made incision 2 inches below this area, or found this abnormality etc. I was told by a VA surgeon I should have had one.

Thanks

[foreveryoung]

Should the VA have had them?

[Berta]

Only if they knew they existed-

You mentioned 'not well grounded' denial and I assume you did not continue to appeal that decision?

Have you attempted to get this report directly from the hosp in Frankfurt?

Was this the 97th General, or the University Clinic in Frankfurt or the General Hospital in Barmbek?

These hospitals- are all on the web-

This link might help too-

http://www.usarmygermany.com/Units/Medical...AHFrankfurt.htm

[EODMOMMY]

Hi All,

I haven't been on the board in a few days...kids keeping me busy.

What you are looking for is your inpatient records. I don't know how long each facility keeps them and I don't know if the hospital in Frankfurt is still open. They closed a lot of facilities in Frankfurt. I know when I was in Germany the major hospital was Weisbaden, now it is Landsthul, which I lived in the village right next to it. I use to walk to Landsthul all the time (not the hospital...that hill would kill you, but the village).

I have had to request inpatient records before from an Army hospital, but it was for a surgery I had a couple years prior.

If you have access to a military hospital or clinic, I would go to the medical records section and they would know how to request them or if they are still available at the hospital (they should know the time frames they keep the records at the hospital before they send them to St. Louis). Most likely, since it has been 40 years, they would be at NARA in St. Louis. I know that is where they send retiree's medical records if they are not going to use the military facilities. For inpatient records they usually keep them by the year the procedure was done, so you would have to provide that info. If you had multiple surgeries at the same facility, but during different years, they would have to look them up by the year and then the name.

Sometimes operative information gets put in your outpatient records (lab, pathology, sometimes even the surgical report), but the whole inpatient record is kept seperate from your outpatient record.

If they are in St. Louis, it might be better (I don't know if they charge for copies)...I know when I wanted a copy of my medical records because we where going to Germany, the army hospital wanted to charge me for copying it (leave a blank check....yeah right!!). My husband who was in the Air Force told the person who was doing my clearance to go to Germany and he had the clinic at the base make me a copy. Then the guy at the base told me just not to return the records, since we where leaving in a few days. The army hospital would have them listed as being checked out to the base. The Army didn't like you to hand carry your medical records, where the Air Force didn't have a problem with it at that time. My mom had to have her's sent when my dad PCS'd to Alaska and it took over a year for them to get up there from Virginia. They must have traveled the world.

[EODMOMMY]

Were these reports also required for military hospitals in 1976?

Yes they where. I had surgery when I was 12 in 1976 at an Army hospital and years later I had to get a copy of my inpatient records to show the Air Force that I was in one piece to go to Germany, because what the Army doctors said I had. Years later I had Air Force doctors and cilvilian doctors say they thought I was misdiagnosed, because the condition they said I had would not have gone away by itself. The Army doctors told my parent's I would "Outgrow it".

[foreveryoung]

The VA has already granted my claim without these reports. Which was a long time coming. I am working a CUE issue now. But when I had my C&P about 4 years ago the VA surgeon stated that he could make a better decision if he had my Operative Report. I had so many other Doctor statements to confirm my claim it made it hard for VA to deny. This went to the VA for review and later approved.

Is it possible the VA knew the reports were missing or didn't have time to track them down?

Edited June 20, 2006 by foreveryoung

[Guest jstacy]

They probally didnt want to track them down. I have had th at happen to me in the past and have presented OR reports. Let me say th ie, OR reports are very detailed play by play and in my case it was the deciding factor as the C @ P examiner looked at it and used the term most likely to have occurred.

Get the report and submit it. The Hospital in Germany should have it.