Can spinal degeneration cause pressure on the sympathetic ganglion ?

Tagged: long-distance consultations

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Eric
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June 17, 2019 at 11:10 am

Post count: 7

#30594

Hello doctor

I am aware from other comments that it is typically the higher Cervical joints (C1-2 and 3-4) which can effect the neck and head. MRI’s show that I have “moderate to severe” bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing and some spinal canal narrowing at at both C5-6 and C6-7.. For about 6 months I have experienced an almost constant feeling of light-headedness (almost hung-over feeling) which I can only alleviated somewhat with celecoxib (200 mgs daily) and Gabapentin. I have also required occipital nerve block injections to treat the headaches, severe neck & shoulder pain and decrease occipital symptoms. No other explanation for these symptoms (sinus and vestibular/balance issues ruled out) have been found and maybe it could somehow be connected to the C5-6-7 damage.

Can the sympathetic ganglion in the front of the spine be pressured from the degenerated discs, which I believe is otherwise known as Barré–Liéou Syndrome . That seems to be indicated by the MRI images (I have tried to enclose link). Is that a possibility?

I would appreciate any light you might be able to shed on this. Thanks you in advance.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

June 21, 2019 at 6:05 pm

Post count: 8660

#30605

It would be very unusual for C5-7 to cause headaches and almost never would cause lightheaded sensations. The upper sympathetic ganglion is supplied by the sympathetic nerves at T1-4 so the cervical vertebra have nothing to do with this.

Headaches can be caused by upper cervical facet arthrosis (degeneration) and this disorder is not uncommonly missed by some experts. Lightheaded feelings sometimes can be caused by vertebral artery disorders in the upper neck.

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.

Eric
Participant

June 21, 2019 at 7:52 pm

Post count: 7

#30608

Thank you for the reply. I appreciate your informative web site and all your efforts to provide public education to people around the world experiencing back/spine problems.

I have had a facet block injection, which I understand is one diagnostic method for facet degeneration. It had minimal effect on my symptoms and what effect it did have lasted only a few hours. A nerve block injection was administered later to much greater effect, symptoms were improved quite significantly for about three weeks. Because of the short period of relief, the pain specialist has referred me on to other specialists, as it was not a long term solution for a fifty year old.

I am in Canada and getting to see medical specialists can take a long time. For example, I am scheduled to see a neurosurgeon sometime in 2021! I am genuinely not sure if I can live with these head/neck symptoms symptoms for that long and right now, my medical treatment here is focusing on the degenerative vertebrae as the culprit – which may not even be the cause of my neck/head symptoms.

I have reviewed your videos on reading MRI’s and my MRI certainly indicates a problem at C5-6 and C6-7 which has also caused rediculopathy in my right arm for may years. Based on your thoughts, I appear to be fighting two different problems at the same time.

A this point, I need to pay for private medical care to try and speed up resolution of these issues. Would you be able to review some reports and MRI’s results for an out-of-country patient and make a written report/assessment? If so, can we get in touch privately to disclose costs?

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

June 23, 2019 at 12:29 pm

Post count: 8660

#30611

Unfortunately, I do see many patients from Canada as your story is not uncommon. I have a long-distance consultation service where for a fee, I will review your history from my forms you fill out, review your images, any consultations and spend about 30 minutes on the phone with you. Please call my local phone number (970) 476-1100 and ask for Lori Fugate (my office manager) as I am not sure the 888 number works in Canada.

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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