M.D. Hakan Özbay

I'm a 72-year-old retired teacher with advanced osteoarthritis in both knees. For years, I'd accepted pain as my constant companion, using a cane and avoiding stairs. My consultation with Dr. Hakan Özbay was unlike any other. He didn't just look at my X-rays; he asked about my garden, my desire to play with my grandchildren, and my dream of visiting Cappadocia again. He proposed a staged bilateral knee replacement, explaining the 'interval strategy' in such clear terms. The surgery at Acibadem Maslak was flawless. What truly stunned me was his post-op protocol—I was standing the same day with a specialized walking frame. At my 6-week follow-up, I brought him a tomato from my garden, something I hadn't tended to in years. He doesn't just fix joints; he returns lives.

Our 8-year-old son, Emre, took a bad fall during a football match, resulting in a complex supracondylar humerus fracture—his elbow was visibly deformed. The emergency room at Acibadem Maslak paged Dr. Özbay immediately, even though it was late Sunday evening. He arrived with a calm that instantly settled our panic. He explained to Emre, using a model skeleton, exactly what was wrong and how he would fix it. The surgery involved percutaneous pinning, and Dr. Özbay's technique was so minimally invasive that the scars are barely visible. During follow-ups, he high-fived Emre and tracked his recovery not just clinically, but by asking about his drawing skills and pencil grip. He treated our child not as a small adult, but with a uniquely pediatric orthopedic understanding we've never encountered.

As a 45-year-old marathon runner, a sudden, sharp pain in my hip sidelined me completely. Multiple doctors dismissed it as tendonitis. Dr. Özbay ordered a specific 3D CT scan that others hadn't, revealing a femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) with a labral tear—a complex, sports-related issue. His approach was collaborative; he presented me with detailed options from physiotherapy to arthroscopic surgery, including animated videos of each procedure. I opted for the surgery. The precision of his arthroscopic technique was remarkable. His post-op regimen wasn't a generic sheet but a phased return-to-running program tailored to my gait analysis data. He didn't just repair my hip; he engineered my return to running. At my last visit, we reviewed my latest race time together. He's more than a surgeon; he's a performance architect.

My wife, who has osteoporosis, suffered a fragile hip fracture after a simple stumble at home. It was a textbook geriatric emergency. Dr. Özbay's response redefined crisis care. He coordinated with her endocrinologist and a geriatric specialist within an hour of admission to Acibadem Maslak. He performed a cemented hemiarthroplasty, but his genius was in the holistic plan. He had a nutritionist adjust her diet for bone healing, and physiotherapy started in her hospital room the next morning with a focus on preventing falls. His follow-up visits always include a 'bone health chat.' He once said, 'We are not just fixing this break; we are fortifying the castle.' His care turned a potentially devastating event into a managed chronic condition. Her confidence and mobility have improved in ways we never imagined possible after a fracture.