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  • ashbyboulware
    Member
    Post count: 11

    GREETINGS DR C.I hope i find you with a well aligned spine. I shared my trials and tribulations of my mis-diagnosis from an auto wreck that left me in shambles. The post was titled professional standards after neurologic deficits are noted. After a failed c5-c6 fusion on september 11,2013, repeated begging for reevaluation from my neuro of which i received no help,a 2nd opinion from another neuro who only pandered for my surgical neuro who referred me to him, who suggested pain management as the only option, i was very fortunate to schedule on my own an appointment with a very very competent neurosurgeon at the university of alabama at birmingham. It took his staff and him 5 minutes to look at the mri ordered by the 2nd opinion neuro to tell me that non union had occurred and a revision was very prudent. He promptly sent me down the hall for a confirmatory ct. I had my revision performed march 18th. DR H told my wife post op that i was a sneeze or two away from a catastrophic event..i.e. death or paralysis. There was no hardware. C5 and c6 had been refractured during the placement of the spacer and the spacer had broken, leaving a sliver of metal to cling to a sliver of bone at c5 and c6. The revision took over 3 hours while the 1st little over an hour. My esophagus was scarred to a vertebrae, causing meat to lodge in it from procedure 1. He cut me open enough to expose c5 and c6 bilaterally. The first doctor had left a large portion of the c5-c6 ruptured disc intact. Additionally, amongst other damaged disc, c4-c5 was ruptured and he cleaned out c4-c5 and decompressed c5. And the coup de grace was he hand cut a beautiful piece of hardware to hold everything in place to fuse, as apparently my first neurosurgeon left the hardware off after apparently refracturing c5 and c6 performing the incomplete acdc. Needless to say a 2 month hiatus turned into 8 from work. The myriad of economic health and occupational issues that arose are incredible. The ct pathology performed before my revision stated, “post surgical changes involving interbody fusion spacer likely from ac/df at c5-c6. Sign of acute fracture. No peri-hardware lucency. Best i can summise, peri means around, and lucency means visible. Basically no visible hardware on ct. I have really struggled with this as not only the wreck side affects have been awful, but the failed surgery nearly killed me amongst other horrible problems. Im not vindictive dr corenman, and i gave informed consent. I know we are all human and things wrong. However after begging for more help and imaging etc and only getting a kick in the a$@ out the door,leaving my life in serious jeopardy, as touchy as this is..is leaving the hardware out not an agregious malpractice issue? Or am i missing something? I was never told about any of this..just that i would do fine. I shudder to think where i would be had i taken his word as the gospel and not been my own advocate. Thank you so much for your time. Ashby

    your site is a gift for us cervically challenged

    Donald Corenman, MD, DC
    Moderator
    Post count: 8660

    Unfortunately, doctors are human and can make mistakes. If another doctor is “a friend” of the first doc, I could imagine that this second doc had confidence that the first doc’s opinion was accurate and there was no reason to question the diagnosis. In this field with such difficult work, your story is not uncommon.

    It does sound like you found a good surgeon who questions everything (as it should be) and was able to repair the failed first surgery.

    Hardware is not absolutely required. Yes- hardware helps to insure that the fusion will be successful but does guarantee fusion. Not using a plate is not malpractice.

    Dr. Corenman

    PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.
     
    Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.
    ashbyboulware
    Member
    Post count: 11

    As always. Thank you for clarifying doctor Corenman. I was unclear on the necessity of hardware. And i 100% agree with you. We all make mistakes. I gave informed consent. I only regret that he didnt tell me and put a game plan together to revise it. I thought very highly of him and would have let him do the revision as it had to be done anyway. And yes, Dr H is a great doctor…just ask him. He will tell you. Thanks again

    Donald Corenman, MD, DC
    Moderator
    Post count: 8660

    Your tongue-in-cheek is appreciated.

    Dr. Corenman

    PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.
     
    Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.
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