From left: Dr. Danzhu Guo and Dr. Danqing Guo.
Following in his brother’s footsteps has never led Dr. Danqing Guo astray. From childhood to careers as physicians, the brothers found success because of one another.
“We grew up together and I followed what he did,” Guo says of his brother Danzhu. Both Guos are physicians with BayCare Clinic Pain & Rehab Medicine. “He went to medical school, then three years later I went to medical school. He started practicing orthopedics and I started practicing orthopedics later. He came to the United States, then a few years later I came to the United States, as well.”
His choice for a career in medicine was also heavily influenced by his family.
“I grew up in a medical family. My dad is a surgeon, my mom was a pharmacist. I have brothers and sisters-in-law and a lot of them are working in a medical field,” Guo says. “I knew I’d be a doctor. I never thought about being anything else.”
Though he started as an orthopedic surgeon, he later found his passion treating patients with musculoskeletal pain. He specializes in musculoskeletal ultrasound.
“As an orthopedic surgeon, we did a lot of surgeries and some patients would still feel residual pain afterwards for other reasons,” he says. “With interventional injections for peripheral nerve inflammation and tiny compression that you see in pain medicine, you can release patient’s pain and they feel so much better. That’s why I’m encouraged to approach things in a more minimally invasive way during the procedure. Minimizing surgical trauma is better for patient recovery.”
Treating patients using minimally invasive procedures sparked an idea in both Danqing and Danzhu. With the help of their brother, an engineer, they invented an ultra-minimally-invasive procedure to help those who are experiencing hand or wrist pain and numbness and tingling from carpal tunnel syndrome or trigger finger syndrome.
“It’s not a coincidence how we found this procedure. We both practiced orthopedics when we were in China. We have done those traditional surgeries,” Guo says. “We have thought of a new concept since we use advanced high-fidelity ultrasound which shows anatomy transparently, ‘Why do we need to cut skin open to solve a tiny problem if we can see the inside of the body?’ If we can take things out or fix them without cutting skin, that would be best.”
The procedure gained national and international attention. Now, the brothers are working on other ways their procedure can be used.
“It’s a treatment method. It’s like a thread knife. Knives can cut everything. You don’t just cut one thing,” Guo says. “This could treat a lot of problems.”
Guo also has helped a lot of patients who experience severe burning in their legs. These patients are often suffering from peripheral entrapment neuropathy. He is able to treat them using ultrasound-guided minimally-invasive hydrodissection procedures.
Outside of work, Guo stays busy raising in his family in his “second hometown.”
“I’m married with four kids; three sons and one daughter,” he says. “We live in Green Bay. I love this area.”