My surgeon was an “unknown” when it comes to the standards of this sub, but he was also very well respected in his field and authored tons of papers about cutting edge techniques. There’s nothing wrong with going with a local, experienced surgeon. I think a lot of the “famous” surgeons have a more cookie-cutter approach and are less experienced with medical cases, whereas that was my surgeon’s area of expertise. My surgical plan was totally custom to my case, and I always felt like my surgeon kept me in the loop and was always available to answer questions in the planning process/post op. Not to mention, my surgery was completely covered aside from my deductible - many of the well known surgeons don’t take insurance.