Go with your gut feeling. If the patient coordinator seems incompetent and snotty, it's because she is and will continue to be. If the billing coordinator appears to be and dingbat, unorganized, unhelpful, snotty, and unable to give straight answers during your initial consultation, trust me, she will be even more so after the surgery. If it seems like this Dr is too eager to perform surgery, well...trust your instincts. I had the fusion surgery and insisted on in-patient, against the initial recommendations of the patient coordinator. Never do outpatient spinal fusion, I don't care if it is only one level, that is stupid! Follow up after surgery is very lacking for such a major surgery, and the billing afterwards is terrible from the Dr and his assistant. All I can say is that, this staff's attitude when tough questions and situations arise becomes very snotty. Definitely not the quality of people or customer service oriented attitude that is expected in a professional environment. I told my wife after my first visit that the patient coordinator must be related to the Dr, because her attitude sucked so bad and it continued to be during each visit. Now I am pretty sure the billing coordinator is related as well. After a year, I think my surgery turned out OK. I cannot imagine having to deal with this office if I had complications.

Submitted Dec. 4, 2015

This is cautionary information about Dr Zaki G. Ibrahim. When needing surgery, research your doctor’s background thoroughly. Get a 2nd and even 3rd opinion early on.
Dr. Ibrahim is hands down the worst doctor I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. Initially, he came across as a compassionate Dr but it time it became apparent that this was not the case. Rather than reviewing my file before entering the office, he asked me every time where my pain was even after performing surgery on me, a surgery that was most likely not the correct surgery for my condition.It clearly states on his site that he performs discectomies for patients with leg pain and back pain caused by a herniated disc. I questioned him as to why he was choosing to do a fusion surgery as most of my pain was in my leg and he stated it was because I had back pain. A family member in the healthcare field and her co-worker believed fusion was not the correct surgery. He unfortunately did not come to the conclusion that my back pain was in my sacrum, unrelated to the L4 disc herniation. He performed a fusion surgery in Feb of 2014 and by May of 2014 I was in unbelievable pain in my sacrum. Additionally (although I did not know it by May 2014) the bone graft he used was beginning to grow outside of the fused area and was beginning to press on my L4 nerve. Once again he was not able to diagnose my sacrum pain. The pain in my sacrum had become so severe; I was forced to do most things on my knees because I could not bend over. It only took 5 minutes for a doctor from CU to determine that my back pain was coming from my sacrum. Since then I have had CT scans showing arthritis on both sides of my sacrum.I continued intense PT for my sacrum but the bone graft used during the fusion surgery continued growing into my L4 nerve, causing excruciating pain. My leg felt as if the nerve was being strangled. It was truly unbearable.
In Dec of 2014 I had a complicated revision fusion surgery.The bone growth from the original surgery caused nerve damage which takes anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to heal. At 7 months I suffer daily from leg pain.
This is cautionary information about Dr Zaki G. Ibrahim of South Denver Spine.
When needing surgery, research your doctor’s background thoroughly because you may learn they are not the doctor for you. Get a 2nd and even 3rd opinion early on.
Dr. Ibrahim is hands down the worst doctor I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. Initially, he came across as a compassionate Dr but it time it became apparent that this was not the case. Rather than reviewing my file before entering the office, he asked me every time where my pain was even after performing surgery on me, a surgery that was most likely not the correct surgery for my condition.
It clearly states on his site that he performs discectomies for patients with leg pain and back pain caused by a herniated disc. I questioned him as to why he was choosing to do a fusion surgery as most of my pain was in my leg and he stated it was because I had back pain. A family member in the healthcare field and her co-worker believed fusion was not the correct surgery. He unfortunately did not come to the conclusion that my back pain was in my sacrum, unrelated to the L4 disc herniation. He performed a fusion surgery in Feb of 2014 and by May of 2014 I was in unbelievable pain in my sacrum, a complaint I had been making since shortly after surgery. Additionally (although I did not know it by May 2014) the bone graft he used was beginning to grow outside of the fused area and was beginning to press on my L4 nerve. Once again he was not able to diagnose my sacrum pain and wanted me to see a primary care physician because I had lost so much weight. Weight that I had, in fact, lost due to pain and nothing else.
The pain in my sacrum had become so severe; I was forced to do just about everything on my knees because I could not bend over. Dr Ibrahim performed surgery on me and then hung me out to dry. The bottom line is that when the Dr. was unable to determine the source of my pain, he behaved as it was all in my head.
It only took 5 minutes for a doctor from CU to determine that my back pain was coming from my sacrum. Since then I have had CT scans showing arthritis on both sides of my sacrum. It was determined by a physical therapist that I had absolutely no movement in my sacrum. As the months went by and I continued intense PT for my sacrum, the bone graft used during the fusion surgery continued growing into my L4 nerve, causing excruciating pain. I was now in a situation that was worse than prior to surgery. My leg felt as if the nerve was being strangled. It was incredibly tight and truly unbearable.
In Dec of 2014 I had a complicated revision fusion surgery performed by an excellent CU DR. The bone growth from the original surgery caused nerve damage which takes anywhere from 6 months to two years to heal. At 7 months I suffer daily from leg pain.

Submitted July 14, 2015

NOTICE: This Doctor does drug screening on all his patients and does not treat Medical Marijuana patients.

Submitted July 2, 2015

Dr. Ibrahim listened to my concerns about surgery and did not push me into having surgery. He gave me several non surgical options. When I felt that surgery was my only option, his staff was able to have another patient and I meet and talk about their success. This put me at ease and helped me overcome my fear! His staff is friendly, personable and always calls back when I have a question or concern. His assistant, Patrick, is awesome and was also able to help answer my surgery questions. I highly recommend South Denver Spine!!

Submitted July 8, 2014

I would not recommend dr Ibrahim. My husband went in for out patient herniated disc surgery paralyzed and has permanent nerve damage

Submitted Feb. 8, 2014

Dr. is very brisk and efficient, respectful, knowledgeable. Physician assistant also very competent and genuinely helpful. Paula, office mgr, very responsive. Tanya is not too bright, but seems to try hard. Overall I would recommend this Dr for spine surgery. His approach was validated by my seond opinion. He was able to fit in my surgery in a very timely fashion. They seem to have an very busy practice - the Dr. does not spend a huge amount of time with you, but he is very attentive and doesn't rush you - but you should be prepared not to waste time. His questions are direct and he has a no-nonsense style -- he listens very closely and is attentive at all times.

Submitted March 18, 2011

Dr. Ibrahim is extremely knowledgeable. The surgery he preformed on my mother was very detailed, due to the extent of damage done to her spine by her arthritis and nerve damage. She is recovering well.

Submitted Oct. 27, 2010

felt like office manager was unfair and I was miss represented in their charts according to what office manager said. She said that I told billing when they called me to pay a bill that "I refused to pay the bill" I never said that. When called for 15 dollars payment I explained that I could not pay as I was still having medical problems and that I could not pay as I had no income and could not work but would pay when things were better for me. Billing continued to push me and said "you cannot even pay 15 dollars. I said no I cannot pay. When speeking with office manager she said I said that I refused to pay the 15 dollars. This was insulting to me as the Doctor got a large sum from my insurance co. and it wasn't like he got nothing. This was a misrepresentation of either the managers interpretation of the documentated note from billing or an unfair documentation of my conversation with them. Really unpleasant to hear this.

Submitted Aug. 12, 2010