C5/c6 neck fusion surgery

Tagged: C5/c6 fusion with continued symptoms

Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

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Mrspearson
Participant

January 17, 2020 at 5:46 pm

Post count: 2

#31927

Hi I have c5/c6 neck fusion surgery in May 2019 before my operation my symptoms was neck pain arm pain sholder blade pain numbness is thumb index finger and middle finger also pins and needles in hand and the 2 fingers that was not numb weak wrist dropping things when trying to grip and could not move my arm in any way shape or form due to pain all symptoms was on my left side and just got worse and worse my consultant said surgery is the best option as it was a bad prolapse disc so after surgery none of my symptoms had changed all the same day after surgery I had an xray my consultant came to see me to say the xray showes fuison went well and I’m dischargibg you today and will send a follow-up appointment in the post 2 weeks after surgery the pain was so bad and my symptoms was still the same well getting worse I called and asked to speak to my consultant 3 weeks later he called me and I told him that I was in more pain than before and symptoms was worse he told me this was all normal so 4 weeks after surgery it felt as if something was wrapped around the top of my leg as if my trousers had fallen down when I felt my leg there was nothing there and it was numb the numbness went anyway after 20 minutes this consured so once agin I callwd my consultant it took him 2 weeks to call me back in this time all of the symptoms I had in my left side I had in my right side apart from I had no numbness or pins and needles in my right hand the head aches I have is something I can’t even explain the pain is out of this world it brings me to tears and makes me scream out my consultant got back to me and basically told me everything is normal but how could this be surely this should not be happening he told me that my weight had a part to play in these symptoms as I am over weight then I started with numbness in my thumb index finger and middle finger in my right hand and the pins and needles and also down my inner arms left and right are completely numb so I called him again and demand he called me back ASAP he called me 2 days later and once again soad it was my weight and said he would do a full examination in clinic at my follow up appointment so I went to my follow-up appointment told him everything and he said its your weight lose weight and all these symptoms will go away he never carried out an examination i argued that no way should being over weight case all these symptoms he told me to go to physio but 2 weeks after my surgery I went to physio and my physio told me he could not do any physo with me as I was in to much pain and told me to contact my consultant and request a mri so every time I spoke to my Consultant I asked for a mri and he refused every time so at the follow up appointment I cried and begged him for a mri and he refused once agin her told me everything was fine and I need to lose Wight he said he would see me agin in October and if everything was the same he would refere me to pain management clinic I was so angry that I was not receiving the right care I phoned and told the hospital I wanted to see a different consultant as I was not happy and I request all my medical notes so my medical notes came and none of my mri scans from before my surgery was there or the xray from the day after surgery my first consultant never did any form of scans to check how my neck was heeling or did any examinations to check I only ever had 1 face to face appointment with him after surgery which was 3 months after so my new consultant basically in so many words told me that I have not had the write care after my surgery and booked me in for xray and mri at my face to face appointment he said that my neck looked like it was heeling how it should and the he was dischargeing me from there cliinc this can’t be right iv had no answers to why I now have all these new symptoms after surgery I’m 30 years old no other medical prombles so symptoms now 8 months after surgery are numbness in inner arm thumb index finger and middle finger weakness in wrist pain in sholder blades arms top of sholders head aches leg pain leg numbness at top to my knees when I move I can hear loads of cracking I’m having loads of falls because my leg gose numb my body is so sensitive the lightest touch hurts as if someone has beaten me what is going on as I have no answers from my consultant

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

January 18, 2020 at 9:12 am

Post count: 8660

#31930

Your lack of relief from your C5-6 ACDF is important as either the diagnosis was incorrect or the surgery did not do the job necessary to decompress your nerves. Your new leg pain and even right sided arm symptom causes remain unanswered. It is not weight gain that causes your symptoms.

You need a different consultant who will take an interest in helping you, take a good history, perform a thorough physical examination, get appropriate imaging studies and follow-through with a good explanation of your 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.

Mrspearson
Participant

January 19, 2020 at 7:22 pm

Post count: 2

#31948

Hi thanks for getting back to me I have seen two consultants am I right in thinking that a CT scan or a mri with die would comform if it was a failed neck surgery

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

January 20, 2020 at 3:21 am

Post count: 8660

#31950

A CT scan is better to look for the fusion status of your ACDF. An MRI is not as good for fusion status but is much better for nerve root compression disorders. For a failed surgery, both tests combined are more helpful along with flexion/extension X-rays.

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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