David LaPatka, MD, FACS

Let me just start by saying this has been only 1 ½ month after my small procedure. I intend to come back and review again in a few more months to see if it looks any better. I had a small piercing hole under my lip. I had this piercing for about 8 years, so when I finally felt I wanted to take it out, I knew there was no chance in it closing. I gave it about 8 months and still, it didn’t close. I decided to look into getting the hole fixed and had heard of dr. lapatka from around town and, the sansum he worked at was very close to my house. I went to the first apt. to see if this was something he thought he could fixed and he said it would be very easy and all he would was cut out the scar tissue, and put in a stitch or two and all I would be left with was a small vertical scar. He seemed nice and like he had done it before, so I said I would think about it since it was also 400 $ for something so minor. I thought about it for several more months and then finally decided I wanted the hole gone. The day I went in, staff seemed friendly, procedure took less then 5 min, lip was a little swollen and there was 2 tiny stitches. A week later, I got stitches removed and staff seemed super unfriendly and like I was wasting there time since I had something so small removed. No follow up apt. Well here I am almost at 2 months and I am left with a very red, dent under my lip. More of a dent then a vertical scar and its much bigger then the hole was. Yes the hole is gone, but I didn’t want something even bigger and more noticeable. I am hoping with time the redness will go away, but as of right now, I am not happy.

I’ve been going to Dr. LaPatka’s office for years now. I’ve met him a few times and he was very friendly and comforting to talk to. I know several people that have gone to him for various reasons and they have nothing but praise for his work!
I, personally, have only seen Heather Greico for my visits. She is amazing at what she does!
And l can’t forget Regina! She always gets me in when I need to…
I highly recommend the services provided here!

I recently had a lesion on my face below my eye removed by Dr. Lapatka. He removed it very quickly and with no problems. It never hurt, not even after when it was healing. Dr. Lapatka and his staff made me feel so comfortable during the whole procedure. I even had a nurse to hold my hand! Yes I’m 41 years old and still need a hand to hold from time to time. Dr. Lapatka and is staff are amazing. I would never go anywhere else!
Natalie R

First off, I should say that this man is an artist. He performed my rhinoplasty a few years ago, and I love my new nose! It’s more than I’d hoped for.
So why only one star? Because he’s lazy and his staff just doesn’t seem to care.
1. Don’t expect anyone there to return your calls. Ever.
2. Once your surgery is complete, don’t expect a follow-​up (which anyone post-​surgery absolutely needs). His office cancelled my second follow-​up appointment and never rescheduled.
3. Hope you were great at the childhood game, «Operation.» During my first follow-​up appointment, he pulled out one suture from the right side of my nose. So once I was home and discovered that my nose still had sutures inside (and couldn’t get anyone to call me back to schedule a second follow-​up appointment), I had to learn on my childhood «Operation» skills to PULL OUT MY OWN SUTURES.
I don’t know how Sansum Clinic is able to keep this operation going. I’d never go there again.

Biggest mistake I have made was going to Dr. LaPatka. I regretfully went to him for rhinoplasty. I needed to have my deviated septum corrected to help with breathing but also wanted to aesthically change the appearance of my nose by taking away the bump on the bridge. He did neither. After the first surgery I returned with a large bulbus bump on one side of my nose on the tip. He agreed there was an issue and offered to correct it. I underwent a second surgery, which was the last thing I wanted to do, and sadly the problem was never corrected. My nose is aesthically a nightmare. The end turns up so much it looks silly and the side with the bulbus still exists. My original nose really only needed the bump taken away as the tip was fine. This was all communicated in the consult. Obviously he didn’t listen to any of this as I now have an amateur plastic surgeon looking nose. To top it all off I recently went to an ENT for an infection and was told my septum was so crooked and my nose was covered inside with scar tissue. The ENT said it appeared that nothing had been done to my septum. I would NEVER recommend Dr. LaPatka.

Dr. Lapatka is one of the most caring and excellent surgeons I have ever worked with. He has worked with my family through multiple issues and I can’t say enough about his compassion and beside manner… not to mention his skill. Hands down he is a great doctor!

I’m sorry A.H. that you had a bad experience, but I must say mine was quite the opposite. And I never noticed any shaking of the hands what so ever? But oh well. Here is my experience:
Oh my goodness! Doctor Lapatka is absolutely AMAZING. I had septoplasty & rhinoplasty done by him.
I was scheduled to meet 2 other surgeons but as soon as I met Dr. Lapatka I canceled them both. He took my photos, spent so much time explaining everything to me, showing what he would do on the computer, what it would look like, etc. He was so thorough and kind with a great sense of humor. Could not have asked for e better session with him & I knew I wanted him to perform the surgery right off the bat. I loved how he explained that he thought rhinoplasty should look natural. a change that I myself could notice but not particularly others.
Anyways I got the surgery on Thursday June 13, everything went smoothly. He gave my mom his personal cell phone number to call if we needed him at all that first day. He called hat night to check on me & make sure everything was fine, and he took the packing out the following morning. While the the next few days weren’t the most comfortable (I mean you do have splints in your nose, a cast, bruised eyes, etc.) one week later (the following Thursday) most of the bruising was gone & he took the splints & the cast off. The nose was & is PERFECT! It’s so natural & subtle, and he did the most amazing job. I can finally breathe through both nostrils after years with a deviated septum & the bump, tip, & bridge of my nose are flawless.
Again every time I saw Dr. Lapatka he was SO kind, helpful, humorous, & just everything you could ever want in a surgeon. I’ve already recommended him to all of my friends who want similar surgeries & anyone on here who is looking for a trust-​worthy, wonderful surgeon in the Santa Barbara area.

STAY AWAY! STAY FAR, FAR AWAY!!! If I could give David Lapatka zero stars I would.
For your own safety, do not get any service from this business.
I’ve been Unilocaling for years, and written over fifty reviews. In all that time, only one other business has ranked so lowly.
Here is what happened:
I had a very small mole on my face, near my mouth. My dermatologist recommended removal. Because it was on my face, I elected to go to a plastic surgeon. With my insurance, this meant I had to pay out of pocket, but I thought the expertise would be worth it. Perhaps this would have been a good plan, if I has seen any other surgeon besides Lapatka.
The consultation was fine, the offices were very pretty. However, when I came in to have my mole removed, I was seated in a chair and my face was draped. At this time, I noticed that Lapatka’s hands were shaking. Badly. I got worried. When he left the room, I asked the nurse if he had Parkinson’s, because naively, I couldn’t imagine why a surgeon would come to work if his hands were shaking so badly. The nurse kind of laughed and told me that he did not have Parkinson’s.
I debated leaving, and I really should have, but because of his association with Sansum, I had faith in his skill. Besides, it was a very simple procedure, expected to take less than 15 minutes. When I jokingly asked if he was nervous, he snapped at me grouchily that it was a simple procedure, and that he did much more complicated procedures all the time. He then got to work, and suddenly, there was blood all over the drape, all over my face, it was like a nightmare. I heard him make some excuse to the nurse, and she just nodded and blotted. It took 8 stiches to clean up the mess, and I was in there over two hours.
When I returned, reluctantly, to have the nurse remove my stitches, she was rude and did a poor job. When I got home, I saw that she had not removed all the stitches– I had to get out the tweezers, and do it myself.
The stitching, performed with shaky hands, healed badly, with the skin puckering and making a scar several times larger than my original little mole. When I complained, Lapatka actually tried to sell me on laser resurfacing to get rid of the scar.
I spoke with my dermatologist, who examined the scar and told me that it should have been one fourth of the size, and that laser resurfacing or any other technique would not make a difference. My dermatologist also told me that the only option was to make a larger incision, and stitch it up more neatly, but this would result in an even longer scar. Meaning basically, I was stuck with a scar on my face, because Lapatka had shaky hands, but operated anyway.
And this was just for a mole removal-​this guy actually does serious surgery. This also says a lot about the people who work for him: What kind of person lets patients be operated on by someone so irresponsible? And how on earth is this guy still in business? Let my pain be your gain — find some one else to do your surgery.

I have had several procedures with Dr. La Papatka. He was caring and sensitive. I am happy with the results. I am also happy with skin resurfacing done in his office by Carol Cope. I look years younger and that makes me happy. I did not enjoy recouperationat all and am always annoyed that Drs. downplay that part.

This guy is the kind of guy that gives plastic surgeons a bad reputation. Not at all interested in actually helping you, but rather fattening his wallet by «selling» you surgeries.
I had a broken nose that was noticeable alough not horrible to look at. It was broken and had healed with a slight «kink» about half way down, and caused some degree of dificulty breathing. It wasn’t the end of the world but I had wanted it «fixed» for a long time, and finally decided to do something.
I went to Dr Lapatka in hope that he could make my nose the way it had been before the break. I EMPHASISED REPEATEDLY that I didn’t want a «different» nose. I just wanted my old nose back. With only a slight glance he said «sure, no problem».
I must say, that I got a little bit of a «used car salesman» vibe, but he seemed confident and I trusted him — big mistake. I had wanted this done for so many years that I guess i didn’t follow my own gut like I should have.
He scheduled me almost immediately, a week after the first visit. There was nothing worth mentioning on the day of surgery. Everything went fine.
The problem was later when I realized how badly he had butchered my nose! First off, not only did he NOT straighten my nose, but he made it MUCH more crooked!?? WTF? How is that possible! My nose is litterly so far off center that it’s ridiculous. It looks like someone was playing pin the tale on the donkey or something and put the pieces in the wrong place. And my breathing is no better!
Second, it looked NOTHING like my original nose (slender and medum sized, sort of pointy). He made it much shorter and very wide, like a pig nose (some people have told me).
And just to clarify, I am not exagerating this. Sometimes people can be too self-​critical, but I can assure this is not the case. Many of my friends and my entire family are all shocked by how crooked it looks!
To top things off, I went back to try to get some answers and he was VERY defensive and denied that anything was wrong. It’s one thing to make a mistake but to sit there and look me in my face and tell me nothing was wrong… that was when he lost all respect. He’s obviously a slime ball to do something like that.
I also tried to get my «before» pictures for over a month (many phone calls, and 2 office visits) with no success. I wonder why??? It just pisses me off how bad this guy messed up my face, and dishonest he is after the fact.
It’s bad enough to have no talent… but no morals either… I’d go to mexico before I’d go to this douche bag again…