Dr. Kenneth Stephen Yonemura, MD

Treated me horrible- no care about who I am - no personality- puts down other doctors .

He left me permanently disfigured.

Dr. was highly recommended as perhaps one of the best spine surgeons in Utah. He performed an extremely complicated spinal surgery on me 7 years ago. Since then I have had an extremely active life with no back pain.

I began seeing Dr. Y after 3 other spine doctors here in Utah. He was the only one to perform a successful epidural. The the pain would come back and epidural are only a delaying procedure for many. So I had a foraminotomy which has been hugely successful! I am finally pain free after many years of deteriorating spine health. He has been very professional as well as caring. I have been recommending him to one and all.

Worst experience I've had with any Dr. He has zero empathy for his patients, and their well being.

I'm very grateful for the talents of this surgeon. After an operation about 30 years ago which failed, no other surgeons were interested in attempting to correct the problem. About seven years ago Dr. Yonemura performed a miracle. For many years after that surgery I had a new life. A couple of years ago I started having some RLS problems and visited Dr. Yonemura again this year. He once again performed surgery and I'm in a recovery mode now. I have the greatest respect for his professional approach in every way. I have referred many friends to him over the years and have never heard any negative response. I have full trust in his diagnoses and treatment.

After going through five back operations with my husband who went to three specialists in two states and never recovered....I was terrified when I started having problems myself. My daughter found Dr. Yonemura at the University of Utah Neurology Center after my first disk rupture that sent me home from a trip in Washington D.C. Dr. Yonemura has repaired two ruptured disks and seen me through a broken back from an auto accident. His level of expertise, care and personal attention is unequal to any back surgeon in Utah. I have and will continue to recommend him to anyone contemplating surgery. He is the "BEST".

I have nothing but the best to say about Dr. Yonemura. Had my surgery 3 months ago and I'm doing great. In surgery for 13 hours, and to today I'm feeling great.I'm very impressed with the Dr. and would recommend people to use him. Thanks,Dr. Yonemura

Dr. Y was recommended as a good surgeon. Too bad I didn't do my research on him first but when you are having debilitating pain, you don't question, you just want help. I totally agree with one of the posts that said he is combative when he has screwed up, egotistical, poor bedside manner (but then you would actually have to come see your patient in the hospital once in 11 days after a "whoops" surgery, however he did not come to see me once during that time which was 6-7 days longer than anticipated - his excuse was that he didn't ususally go to "that part of the facility - are you kidding me?) He did argue trivia and tried to compare my case to another person's case going so far as to make me look at their x-rays v. my own which made no sense at all. He offered no further help at my one year post-op and I was suffering with the same pain as prior to the surgery - he just said "I did my job" "I don't do that" "Go to a pain clinic" Awesome - and then I find out that he removed the wrong disc. He knew it but never told me - he just wanted to dump my case because he was "separating" from the University. I'm sure he has done a fine job for some people but no, not me. No one should be treated in the dismissive, demeaning and untruthful manner that he treated me. I am not the kind of person that says any of this lightly. I've worked with the medical professional throughout my career. I know things can go wrong but I also know how they should be handled and in my case, things were horribly mishandled.

Dr. Yonemura is an excellent surgeon and a fine man. He worked with me for over 5 years

Dr. Yonemura performed a laminotomy to correct stenosis and, later, a 3-level spinal fusion. Both procedures had much better results than is typical, if one researches the literature. He is very careful to contain expectations--which is important with spinal surgeries. Sometimes these cautions can come across as being somewhat brusk. But he does care about his patients.In view of other comments, it is important to understand that spinal surgeries have mixed results in general, and satisfactory recuperation depends very much upon the patient's achieving a program of daily exercise as recommended. Most patients do not follow instructions to the letter, and thus their recoveries can be problematic.I would recommend Dr. Yonemura to others without hesitation, and have done so.

Beware! do research, check New York State records. Make sure the procedure he wants to do is best for you, his personality changes to combative when there are complications from surgery. He performs life changing operations that in my case resulted in far worse pain and disability than before surgery. He will argue trivial facts and even blame the patient for failure of the surgery. So if the surgery does not go well he offers nothing to correct the problems, you are on your own!DO RESEARCH! than run if you still can.

Dr. Yonemura is professional and very knowledgable and communicates this with his patients. He provided me with the care that I needed and continues to be available a year after my surgery to help me with any questions which I may have.

The worst person on a professional level An even worse person on a personal level if that's possible. I have never met a more egotistical person who cares less about his patience! Honestly

My family and I have never been treated as badly by a health provider as was our experience with Yonemura. Surgery was a complete failure and resulted in debilitating pain and suffering since being under his care.

I find that Dr. Yonemura to be the best I have found after a significant search for a qualified spine surgeon. This includes the Mayo Clinics, the Desert Institute for Spine Care in Phoenix. He took my case with complete confidense in his abilities to diagnose and then to undertake a surgical procedure that had been given little chance of success by many other physicians in th United States and Canada. I refer him to others without hesitation.

After visiting three other neurosurgeons, Dr. Yonemura was the one for me: takes his time and very competent. Had decompression surgery for stenosis and I have been very, very pleased. Would recommend him to anyone.