Lumbar radiculopathy after microdiscectomy

Tagged: microdiscectomy late after severe lumbar radiculopathy

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

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Treeman123
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February 28, 2018 at 1:17 am

Post count: 4

#27736

Hi Dr Corenman,

About 8 months ago i developed a shooting stabbing pain down my left buttock and calf with a severe limp after going to the doctor an Mri confirmed a significant left paracentral disk herniation at the l4/l5 level with a 10 by 6 by 6 mm herniated fragment causing compression on the descending l5 nerve root. As I was young (21) the doctors said to take it conservatively thus i took a few rounds of prednisone coupled with physiotherapy which allowed me to improve my limp and reduce the pain from 8-9 to around 2-3. However as conservative treatment had not fully solved my pain and mobility around 5 months i received nerve root block which was suggested by a neurosurgeon.This was unsuccessful so a few weeks later i had a microdiscectomy at the l4/l5 level the surgeon said it was successful. However whilst most of the buttocks pain has gone i am still left with a burning pain down my calf which i would describe as a dull ache which fluctuates around a 1-2 in pain and gets worse at night or when i wake up. I am still suing advil or paracetomol for pain would it be worthy looking at better nerve medications like lyrica?
At the check up the surgeon checked the straight leg test and i am still unable to lift both legs to 45 degrees up without radiating shooting pain through my left leg and glute and especially in the calf. I have started physiotherapy and my mobility is still severely restricted and has not improved post surgery.I am worried as the surgeon and from what I’ve read said that sciatica pain should be mostly gone after surgery and mine is still there despite a second mri confirming that there is nothing compressing the nerve root. There is no numbness or tingling in my feet however sometimes the outer toe will get sore . Is this nerve damage permanent what else could it mean that i still have sciatica 3 and half months post microdiscectomy. I am still able to walk long distances like 10 miles a day however the calf pain in still there and i still have a slight drop foot which the physio think will improve but takes months to heal. I should add i don’t really have any back pain unless.

Thanks in advance

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

February 28, 2018 at 10:21 am

Post count: 8660

#27746

My general reaction to severe radiculopathy with motor weakness is to do decompressive surgery relatively soon after presentation of symptoms. It is my belief that in the situation you presented, surgery could help prevent chronic radiculopathy and allow the root to heal more completely (see https://neckandback.com/conditions/chronic-radiculopathy/).

It sounds like you might have chronic radiculopathy but if you have ongoing symptoms, you could have a recurrent disc herniation. A new MRI would be warranted.

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.

Treeman123
Participant

February 28, 2018 at 3:11 pm

Post count: 4

#27754

Thank you for your prompt reply around 8 weeks after the microdiscectomy I had another MRI that showed the nerve root was not being compressed anymore. As I still have sciatica pain on a slight limp in the calf 3 and a half months after decompression surgury is it likely that this nerve damage is permanent or can nerves take longer to heal?

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

February 28, 2018 at 3:27 pm

Post count: 8660

#27755

Nerves can take as much as a year to heal.

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.

Treeman123
Participant

February 28, 2018 at 10:37 pm

Post count: 4

#27765

thank you again for your response
are there any supplements i can be taking to improve nerve regeneration. My physic has given me nerve flossing exercises as a technique however this is quite painful and my mobility is still restricted. lastly do nerves heal from feet up or do they heal where the herniation was in the back and then go down my leg?

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

March 1, 2018 at 10:31 am

Post count: 8660

#27767

Nerves heal by centralization, that is from the bottom up. Unfortunately, there is no specific supplement to help nerve heal. Correction of metabolic disorders (controlling diabetes, stopping significant alcohol consumption) are the only treatments known to improve nerve healing.

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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