t8-9, 2mm central/right paracentral posterior disc protrusion

Tagged: 2mm, 9, approximates the ventral cord, back pain. mri, standing, symptoms, T8, t8-9, thecal sac, Upper back pain

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mark408
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January 31, 2017 at 3:55 pm

Post count: 3

#24240

t8-9, 2mm central/right paracentral posterior disc protrusion indents the ventral thecal sac adn closely appropriates the ventral cord.

This is what my mri reads. I have had steroid injections with very little relief. Lots of physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture. I am going in for radio frequency to see if I get any relief from that. I have had this pain for over a year now and it has slowly been getting worse. Is this something that the radio frequency or ablation will work on? is this surgical? Symptoms are right ribs are real sore, upper back kills most of the time, especially when I stand still or when i sit still in a chair like at the dining table. Recliner is ok. Standing kills me for some reason.

Thank you

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

February 5, 2017 at 1:03 pm

Post count: 8660

#24279

Here are the important questions. Did you keep a pain diary (see website) to understand what is causing your pain? Did the facet blocks give you relief (the reason for radio frequency ablation)? Did you have standing x-rays to look for increased kyphosis (Scheuermann’s disorder-see website). Did someone look at your cervical spine as commonly, cervical disorders refer to the upper thoracic spine.

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.

mark408
Participant

February 5, 2017 at 9:08 pm

Post count: 3

#24291

I do keep a pain diary, but I am thinking you are referring to the one after the facet block. The facet block is scheduled for tomorrow. I will keep the pain diary also for that to see if we are in the right location. I did not have a standing x-ray. maybe something I should ask for. My grandma had a hunch back.
As for cervical:
C2-3 posterior spondylitic contouring mildly indents the ventral thecal sac. no cord inmimgment or significant neural foraminal stenosis.

C3-4 2mm central disc bulging indents the ventral thecal sac, no cord impingment. there is mild left C3-4 spondylitic neural foraminal narrowing.

C5-6 posterior spondylitic contouring with disc bulging indents the ventral thecal sac and closely approciamtes the cervical cord. Postlateral spondylitic marginal contouring combined with uncovertebral hypertrophy results in mild/moderate left something narrowing.

Same thing with C6-7 only mild nerual foraminal narrowing.

I had surgery on December 12th where they go in posterior and clean out to make room for the nerve root. nothing with the discs. There were three options. disc replacement, fusion, or clean stuff up. I chose the later. I forget the name. This was done at C6 and c7. Still horrible pain between shoulder blades around t8-9 where i have the other 2mm bulging disc. do you think that this is probably where it is coming from?

Thank You.

mark408
Participant

May 16, 2017 at 11:58 pm

Post count: 3

#24799

I had the ablation at t789 today. Lost of pain and know that this is normal. Feels like it is in the right spot though. Right where it always hurts but way worse now. but again I know this is normal.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

May 18, 2017 at 6:25 pm

Post count: 8660

#24807

I think you are unclear as to what you had done. An ablation is a “burning’ of the small sensory nerves that go to your facets. This procedure is only performed if you had a positive set of facet blocks (temporary relief of pain with intra-articular facet injections). Your surgery most likely was posterior foraminotomies at C5-6 and C6-7. If you had no relief of your “between the shoulder blades” pain, this pain is most likely from the thoracic spine. I would recommend a standing lateral thoracic x-ray to determine if you have Scheuermann’s disorder.

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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Donald Corenman, MD, DC

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81 reviews

Eric S

Sep 26, 2021

by Eric S on Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Successful pars repair at 46 years old

Back in November of 2018 (at 46 years old) I came from Vancouver BC to have a pars repair done with Dr. Donald Corenman at the Steadman Clinic in Vail Colorado. I'm finally posting this review nearly three years later in late 2021. The reason I waited so long was I wanted to know the final result before I posted my review. Unfortunately in that time Dr. Corenman has retired. Nevertheless, I want to post this review of Dr. Corenman and his staff at the Steadman Clinic in their excellent treatment of my L5 pars interarticularis.

I fractured my pars at age 42 back in 2014 when rolling on the gym floor, and was denied treatment by the Canadian healthcare system, probably due to my age. First my GP told me there was no surgical option for a pars defect, which was quite incorrect! I tried to live with it, but the symptoms worsened (periodic random spine slippage and weeks of resultant pain after just bending over to tie my shoe, so I eventually learned to mostly squat and hardly bend). When I finally consulted with Canadian spine surgeons, I was told they believed my pars defect had been congenital (since birth). This was absurd, considering I had done extreme martial arts (including jiu jitsu) for years prior, as well as 5 years of reinforcing steel full time in my 20s, probably the hardest job on the back you can find. No pars defect like mine would possibly have allowed this--ergo it was impossible that I had had the defect since birth. I did however have an asymptomatic congenital spina bifida occulta that made me more susceptible to a pars fracture. In 2014 in one instant, I went from having the strongest back people I knew said they'd ever seen, to being unable to safely bend over and tie my shoe without a non-negligible risk of my spine slipping randomly (which would lead to weeks of pain after each occurrence). This was due to the unilateral L5 pars defect, otherwise known as spondylolysis. It was when lying in pain on the floor 4 years later after maybe the 6th spine slippage event post injury, that I had had enough, and resolved to have surgery. If Canada's "universal health care" said no, I would make lemonade from lemons, and find the very best surgeon in the world at pars repairs. That was Dr. Donald Corenman. Dr. Corenman back in 2018 ran a website https://neckandback.com/ that dedicated many pages to the science of every aspect of pars repairs, from eligibility (good discs on MRI), to best surgical techniques (minimal open compared to minimally invasive), best imaging to use (i.e., O-Arm with Stealth imaging vs. older fluoroscopy), the ideal amount of BMP to use and why not use too much or too little, and much more, all to do with pars repairs, pages upon pages of his site just on the pars, with scientific references and his own extensive expert opinion. As a health research statistician, I was very impressed with this. It was in stark contrast to the websites of other spine surgeons which barely gave the pars a word or two, focusing almost exclusively on fusions. I had found the best surgeon in the world for pars repairs, and so after Dr. Corenman personally screened my MRI to ensure my discs were healthy, I booked the surgery.

Being 46 years old at the time of surgery in 2018, with a 4-year-old pars fracture from 2014 combined with a congenital SBO meant my pars fragment was somewhat atrophied, but it was "very solid", said Dr. Corenman in the operative report. Nevertheless, it was challenging with two things to fix, the pars and SBO, and OR time was around 4 hours. Recovery over the following months was guided by a very clear "Spine binder" from the Steadman Clinic with strict rules of "no BLT" (no bending, lifting or twisting), and illustrated physiotherapy guidelines. They even warned patients to avoid fish oil supplements, which could excessively dampen inflammation and hence slow bone healing. They answered many questions I had during months of recovery, with responses coming from the very supportive Lori Fugate (then director of Dr. Corenman's practice), and Ehrich Bean (then physician's assistant at the practice), as well as a couple calls with Dr. Corenman himself after two of the CT scans. Ehrich Bean offered great advice for taking the spine binder conservatively due to the nature of pars repairs vs. fusions. The final post-op CT scan I had was a couple weeks ago at 34 months post-op, and Dr. Corenman had retired, but I got a very positive and informative call from Eric Strauch (current PA at the Steadman Clinic under Dr. Corenman's replacement there, and who had also worked with Dr. Corenman previously). The staff at the Steadman Clinic were extremely supportive all the way through the process. I should mention, the local Canadian spine surgeon did offer me very good post-operative support including antibiotics as needed to deal with a mild surface incision-site infection early on, booking numerous x-rays when I felt something was amiss, as well as booking all four of my post-op CT scans. I am very grateful for that support also.

My final result shows plenty of solid bone across the pars and a healed SBO, with my vertebral body now a solid bone ring instead of being broken at two places as it was pre-op. Does my spine hold up in the real world? You bet! I have recently dug and moved several yards of dirt and sand and gravel by myself (shovel and wheelbarrow!) to fix our water main, pulled roots from the yard, moved several "portable" (these are HUGE) air conditioners up several flights of stairs my myself, and lifted weights. I now run 2 miles (3.2 KM) several times weekly with a hard 100 meter dash in the middle. I bend deeply before each run I go on, with no spine slippage. My spine feels amazing. I can bend over to do exercise, or real word tasks, with no risk of spine slippage.

My sincere thanks to God, Dr. Donald Corenman, Lori Fugate, Ehrich Bean, Eric Strauch, and the Steadman Clinic, as well as the Canadian spine surgeon who offered me excellent post-operative care back in Canada. You have all given me a new lease on life.

Sincerely,
Eric S

Robert S

May 11, 2021

by Robert S on Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Back Fusion Surgery

I had my entire lumbar spine fused in November of 2018. I had scoliosis , with pinched nerves that were so painful I could hardly walk - and standing for more than a few minutes was impossible. Even sitting was painful.
The fusion surgery produced immediate relief! And the recovery was much easier than I expected.
To this day I can do all the activities I love from hiking, to standing in a stream fly fishing to riding my bike long distances - or just walking down the street with my wife.
Kudos to Dr. Corenman and his staff, (including the two Erics) for taking such good care of me!

Leslie R

Jul 9, 2020

by Leslie R on Donald Corenman, MD, DC

TLIF

I had my TLIF surgery on 6/24/2020 by Dr. Corenman, I can not say enough good things about the Dr or his staff. I was always treated with respect and explained everything throughly, that made it easy for everyone to understand. I highly recommend Dr. Corenman and the Steadman Clinic.

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