Kenneth Akizuki, MD

I show up to my appt at 8am which time was given to me by the male front desk person 2 weeks ago. The lady at the front (sherry ann, or Cheryl ann) tells me I’m late because my appt was at 7:30am. Huh?
She proceeds to throw paperwork at me shouting out directions (ie: sign here, sign there, fill this out, fill that out) not once making eye contact or asking nicely. She was either having a bad day (at 7:30 in the morning), hates her job or hates life. She is just miserable.
After 10 min, I get put in a room, where the nurse asks me all the questions that I just filled out on the paperwork. I told here all the info is there, but she tells me she has to ask again, so I’m wondering why I spent all that time to fill out the info if no one looks at it anyway.
Dr. Akizuki arrives my room around 8:40am, goes through the MRI and talks about my issue. He was very nice and knowledgeable. Too bad his front office staff is incompetent and rude.

We love Dr. Akizuki and his staff!!! My son had shoulder surgery with Dr. A and we couldn’t be happier! He is so friendly and accommodating, always willing to go into depth in explaining everything. His staff went above and beyond to accommodate us with surgery times and appointments! I was a nervous wreck day of surgery but as soon as I saw Dr. Akizuki I knew my son was in good hands! Our family is thankful to the doctor and the staff! I would highly recommend this Dr! As for the wait times during his office visits… HE IS WORTH THE WAIT!!!

Only one appt but was so pleased with everything from registering as a new patient to the office staff and Asst’s! Dr Akizuki had great bed side manor and treated me immediately and feel like I am getting top notch treatment. Couldn’t be happier and glad I am on the road to recovery

Dr. Akizuki and his nurse practitioner were friendly, thoughtful, and I felt like they very much cared about my well being and provided useful consultation and advice.
Their office management, however, leaves a lot to be desired. I waited 40 minutes just to see the nurse practitioner and then another 15 minutes to see Dr. Akizuki (he also seemed oblivious to the fact that I was waiting for 55 minutes to see him).
The office manager didn’t let anyone in the waiting area know there would be a delay or that they were behind schedule in any way. They were also supposed to send a request for an MRI over to a diagnostics facility, and I guess that never happened (I had to followup on my own).
I won’t be returning to this office again because of the poor management and wait time.

There’s a reason he’s the team physician for the Giants.
Dr. Akizuki is an amazing doctor and a lovely person. He performed surgery on my left knee to resect a large place and remove some scar tissues resulting from years of long-​distance running. I am 7 months post op, and I cannot be happier with the results. I am fully recovered, and can go back to my regular activities. Before the surgery, I constantly experienced pain, sometimes even sharp pain in my knee. MRI showed nothing, but my knee was clicking and often red and swollen. After seeing Dr. Akizuki the second time, he concluded that I have a knee plica. He said that it is not a serious conditions and that a lot of people have it too. He gave me the choice of either conservative treatment or surgery. I am an athlete, and was not willing to let go of sports, so I decided to go with surgery.
Surgery was quick. I reported to Saint Mary’s hospital at 6pm and was out before 10. It was an arthroscopy so recovery was relatively quick. I stayed home and used crutches for 3 days, YES 3 days. On the third day, I was back to school limping. Of course I was carrying the crutches in case. I was very persistent with physical therapy, home exercises, and proper diet so I guess that has contributed to the speedy recovery as well. Full range of motion happened 6 weeks post op.
I am extremely happy with the work Dr. Akizuki had done for my knee, and I am not hesitant to say that he’s the BEST doctor I have had. My recovery is a life-​changing experience. I highly recommend him to anybody who needs both operative and non-​operative care/​treatment. You will not be disappointed.

I had ACL reconstruction surgery by Dr. Akizuki on January 28^th, and he is amazing! The whole staff at SOAR is wonderful. Before the surgery they got me into all of the best facilities and gave me great recommendations for Physical Therapy (Noe Valley Physical Therapy, and they are fantastic!) At my first appointment with him he made me feel very confident in his ability, without sounding pretentious. He went over my options at length and personalized it by telling me what he would do if he were in my situation.
At the hospital Dr. Akizuki kept the conversation light and joked with me, which made me feel very comfortable. Waiting for surgery is boring, but that is not his fault! After the surgery he came by my bed in recovery and checked on me a couple of times to make sure everything was ok. I was awake enough to understand what he told me. Even so he called my emergency person and gave him a rundown of how the surgery went. 4 days later he called me to check in on my progress and go over what he did in surgery. He was very positive, kind and made me feel like he cared about how I was recovering.
After reading that his schedule is dictated by the Giants schedule, I guess I’m glad I hurt myself in January! Dr. Akizuki is the best! If you can go to him, you definitely should!

One of the best doctors around kind caring in takes care of his patents will have you up in moving faster than most in his work is off the chart if got bad knees are shoulders come see him

I was recently involved in a motorcycle accident and have an AC separation in my shoulder. I wanted to get a second opinion from Dr Akizuki. Just called their office to make an appointment. The lady who picked up the phone said that since this an ‘auto accident’, Dr Akizuki will not see me. I told her I have PPO medical insurance, but she said even if my health insurance covers it, if this ends up becoming a case, Dr Akizuki doesn’t want to deal with lawyers. He will see me if its an injury like wear and tear that I incurred on my own. Really? Why does that matter, when he gets paid either way. Many serious orthopedic injuries are from auto accidents. And I would think it’s basic medical ethics not to refuse a patient treatment. There are morally responsible medical practitioners and there are those in it to make quick and easy money — to me, this establishment seems to be the latter.
If you were involved in a motor accident or other serious trauma, I suggest you look at specialists like Dr. Ma or Dr. Morshed from the UCSF Orthopedic Institute.

Best Ortho Surgeon there is, period. He has done 4 of my 8 knee surgeries and I could not recommend anyone better. He is the team Dr for the SF Giants, he fixed Buster Posey– need I say more!
All the reviewers that complained he cancelled their appts because of baseball season, get your facts straight, he had to be on the road with Giants for post– season play. Those are the breaks when you chose a surgeon who is the team Doctor for a winning ball club.
Yes, his office staff is sometimes hard to get a hold of, however, this is a doctors office not a spa or Neiman Marucs, just call back if you desperately need to speak with some. one. From personnel experience the after hours call center has always been spot on and connected me with Zuk. He even called me at 2am on a Sat night to make sure I was ‘Ok’. I have been a patient for 5+ years and always get a call back from the staff with in 24 hrs.
His bedside manner is calming and funny and he is a highly skilled surgeon, who only recommends surgery and invasive procedures as needed. He’s overall a great dude and I do trust him with my life!

I can’t say enough good things about Dr Akizuki!!! During my initial visit he spent an entire hour in the room with me. Unheard of for most Dr’s. His staff is friendly and professional. They are very busy and when you call the office, you will have to leave a message and they will call you back soon.
His schedule is dictated by the Giants schedule, but I found it was not so difficult to deal with. I would see Dr Akizuki for anything Orthopedic in the future.

So far so good. Was referred Thursday had an appoint scheduled on Monday.
Only hiccup was the Dr missed his plane so I saw the nurse practitioner.
If she is any indication of his ability I may have found the Holy Grail of Doctors. BTW WE ARE playing in the NLCS to go the World Series. His schedule is dictated by the Giants! Cut’em some slack!

I had a first time appointment scheduled, and i received an email that he cancelled on me the day before without any reason. No context or anything. Maybe he’s a great doctor, but I’ll never know because I won’t be rescheduling. No apology or anything!

The Dr is amazing but OMG dealing with their phone and contacting staff is a NIGHTMARE!!! Phone system is ALWAYS down and I’ve been seeing him for over a year. I had to contact the NP before a surgery and could not do so effectively. If you do manage to get someone on the phone, they will almost always transfer you to someone who won’t answer (or the wrong person entirely) and then somehow you will be re-​routed to the beginning Menu message. Unbelievably frustrating!
Also, while the Dr is an excellent surgeon with hilarious bedside manner, during your visit with him he will get at least 5 phone calls where he has to silence the ringer. Or take the call. He will spend time with you, answer all your questions, etc, sure. But your visit will be interrupted.

Our daughter (a college athlete) had two previous knee surgeries and it looked like she needed a third. We opted to get a second opinion rather than return to the original doctor and selected Dr. Akizuki in large part because of reviews on Unilocal.It was clear from the beginning that he and his staff understood the concept of working with an athlete that needs quick action and to return to their sport as soon as is safe. The first thing Trisha, the appointment scheduler, asked when I called for an appointment was whether or not we had a recent MRI and since we did not, she set one up immediately, before we even saw the doctor — unheard of in the other ortho offices I contacted… they all wanted a preliminary visit before ordering an MRI.
We got an MRI, had the appointment with Akizuki and our daughter had surgery… all within a week and a half — crucial since she was home for a brief visit during the summer and our goal was to get her back up and active as soon as possible. It has now been two months since the surgery and Dr. Akizuki has not only been involved in her rehab (talking to athletic trainers at her school) but has been refreshingly accommodating with regards to our limited windows of availability (bringing our daughter home over a weekend for a cortisone shot in the knee) and again, his office staff has been responsive and easy to deal with, always professional and very understanding.
We highly recommend Dr. Akizuki — even with his busy schedule, he has proven to be an excellent choice.

Dr. Akizuki and his staff are wonderful. I am extremely thankful to be able to get such great medical care from him and his practice.
With much thanks and respect,

Wow! What an amazing doctor!
He was very informative and helpful.
I’ve had two ACL reconstructive surgery with another doctor from SCVM Hospital and the operations went awry… so I suspected that my physician had made some errors. So, for my third ACL surgery I was advised by a friend who had received similar surgery to see Dr. Akizuki.
Kenneth Akizuki answered all my questions on my first visit. He sat down and informed me well about the procedure before going into the surgery room. Several days after my surgery he called me and sought my wellbeing.
You will find this doctor very helpful, humble, and kind. Without a doubt, one of the best orthopedics surgeons in northern California. Highly recommended!

Dr Kenneth Akizuki is a top notch orthopedic surgeon. I should know. I’ve had 3 major joint surgeries in the past 2 years and Dr. Akizuki has now performed 2 of them.
After having mixed feelings about the outcome of my first knee surgery with another orthopedic surgeon, I embarked on a quest to find the best of the best to repair my badly shattered shoulder (motorcycle accident). I had PPO insurance through United Health Care at that time that allowed me to see as many doctors as I wanted so I made appointments with and saw the top 7 highest rated San Francisco sports medicine doctors on Unilocal.I was amazed at how differently each doctor diagnosed my complex injury. The first 2 Doctors I saw actually suggested that since it was my left arm (and I’m right handed) that I wouldn’t need surgery and should accept that I’d just have a bum left wing for the rest of my life! I couldn’t believe it… These are top rated Unilocal doctors! Each subsequent doctor I saw diagnosed something in my shoulder that all of the previous «experts» had missed.

Dr. Akizuki took the longest to get an appointment with as he is in very high demand. It was absolutely worth the wait though. Dr. Akizuki looked at my Xrays, MRIs, and CT scan and very quickly diagnosed important aspects of my injury that had been previously overlooked by 6 other experts. The entirety of my injury now seemed so clear once Dr. Akizuki had explained and showed me his analysis of my films. His bed side manner is the best I’ve experienced and I’ve seen many, many highly revered doctors. He is very friendly and actually takes the time to answer all of my questions and settle any concerns I may have. This is certainly why he runs behind but I wont hold that against him. I’ll take quality over speed every day.

Dr Akizuki clearly explained my situation and options and was confident that he could reconstruct my shattered shoulder and greatly restore lost range of motion and strength. He also painted a very clear picture of what my surgery and recovery would be like and gave me an accurate timeline as well.

I have to say that Ken Akizuki performed my shoulder reconstruction flawlessly as I am now able to do pull-​ups, swim, climb a ladder etc. .
When I tore my ACL 8 months after my shoulder surgery, Dr Akizuki was of course my preferred surgeon. He handled that knee surgery with the same exceptional competency that has garnered the SF Giants trust in making him team doctor for the last few years.
I also have to mention Dr. Benjamin Ma who was very helpful and informative when I consulted his medical advice though I personally preferred Dr Akizuki. I feel like Dr. Ma would have made the same repairs during surgery though Dr. Akizuki was able to read my film more completely in advance which earned my trust.

If you’ve managed to injure your knee, shoulder, elbow or ankle, are athletic, and want the best orthopedic surgeon in San Francisco, this is your guy. He did a SLAP repair on my shoulder with a total of four anchors and I am now back to doing what I love, surfing and yoga. Yes he is busy, yes you may have to wait a minute, but do you really want the guy with next day appointments available and 5 patients for this sort of thing? I wanted to address the disgruntled husband who had to have his wives’ surgery rescheduled due to the SF Giants playoff games. Uh yeah, sorry the surgery was rescheduled but he is the team doctor for the SF Giants so if they make it the playoffs he does have to be there. It’s his job.
The SF Giants seem to believe he is one of the top orthopedic surgeons in San Francisco and I would have to agree. I would trust him 100%, he knows his stuff.

My husband went to see dr. Akizuki to cure his patella problem. The doctor was on time, nice and polite. He ordered mri and when the images were ready the doctor called my husband on December 31^st after 4 p.m. and kind of surprised us. You would expect people to be busy with New Year preparation party or so, but the doctor was still on duty and found time to make the call. That was nice.
We were pleased with good service and would definitely recommend Dr. Akizuki!

I used Dr. Akizuki for my ACL Reconstruction and he was really great! Not only was Dr. Akizuki extremely detailed and patient, he was very comforting and walked me through the entire operation and the expected recovery. I’m currently in week 6 post-​op and I’m progressing right on plan (though my quad could be stronger). The reason I did not give this place 5 stars is due to their back office. Maybe because they have good doctors, but the phone lines can seem to really put you for a loop. At times it was challenging to get the right person on the phone (and these were non-​physicians I was looking to speak to).
All in all, a good experience and one I would recommend if you are in need of repairing an ACL /​any other ligament issue.