Failed neck surgery

Tagged: Cervical Spine Surgery Failed

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MarieTaylo
Participant

February 6, 2017 at 9:02 am

Post count: 13

#24296

Dr. Corenman,
I agree with your assessment. I had been seeing a Chirocpractor since 1988. In 2012, he referred me for additional imaging.
He understands the extent of my neck issues and manipulation could cause catastrophic damage.
Thanks.

MarieTaylo
Participant

February 6, 2017 at 1:25 pm

Post count: 13

#24298

Dr. Corenman,
We’re going to a Flagship Medical Center on 2/9 for an evaluation by the Neuro modulation neurosurgeons.
They have my previous imaging.
Hopefully, they will do a complete medical evaluation rather than another “Patch” and see if this works which has been my previous experience.
We will probably request a consultation with you to share their findings and before making any plans.
As I told my husband, what happened to being admitted to a Medical Center, get evaluated, examined, and receive medical treatment? Remember, when patients used to receive medical care?
Logistically, we can get to Vail. We would need to know how long it takes to get an appointment with you? AND, how long I would be in Vail?
Practically speaking, there’s insurance to work through and a stay of more than a week would require my husband to leave me in Vail and come back at some point. So, transportation & accommodations are another factor.
After evaluation, imaging, examination and consultation; you would have a treatment plan. After whatever treatment is proposed, do you have on site rehabilitation services or would I return home for rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation is a big concern of mine; as the past year has physically depleted me.
After the fusion on January 9, 2015 I spent 4 days on a postoperative unit then was transferred to their inpatient rehabilitation unit for 10 days. The transformation was amazing. I couldn’t bathe myself on the first day of rehab. By day ten, I was able to complete all ADL’s, walked without aid and built on that over the next 9 months.
2016 was a waste of resources, time and ultimately I’ve been physically depleted.
I’m impatient to see improvement but repeating the same cycle is an exercise in futility.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

February 9, 2017 at 10:20 am

Post count: 8660

#24308

Talk to Lori Fugate, my office manager for contact info and lodging info. Please bring with you all the imaging studies (normally on a DVD or 3) and we can go over everything. You will probably only need one day in the clinic based upon your history to determine what your disorder(s) is.

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.

MarieTaylo
Participant

February 14, 2017 at 1:30 pm

Post count: 13

#24335

Dr. Corenman,
We met with a neurosurgeon who’s specializes in Neuro modulation.
I was a neonatal ICU RN.
What impressed me most was the doctor did both a complete history & complete physical exam. I am amazed at how many doctors focus on pretty pictures and don’t touch their patients (unless they’re asleep for surgery).
I am not a candidate for Neuro modulation.
I’m experiencing Nociceptive intractable pain and possibly, neurogenic pain.
In effect, the muscles that should be supporting my skull, neck & shoulders have been damaged; so, many other muscles are taking on a heavy workload.
He referred my case to a neurosurgeon within the Institute. He’s ordered a MRI to compare with my past imaging.
I have Titanium from C2-T2. So, there will be a lot of artifact on the MRI.
A myelogram would probably yield better imaging but it’s invasive & painful, too.
We’ll meet with him on 2/27 to discuss the results and any possible treatments.
They suggested wearing a cervical collar (hard) to decrease the overload on my muscles.
Before attempting any physical therapy, he wants me to wait until his colleague meets, examines and evaluates me on 2/27.
He thought Botox injections to my bulging neck muscles by a neurologist may give me some relief.
The neurologist meets with me on 5/2.
In the meantime, I am coping poorly with intractable pain.
As you can imagine, I battle with severe depression related to pain every day.
I’m still struggling to understand how on 7/7/2014 I went into surgery for a C6-C7 cervical fusion and 2 1/2 years later, I’m unable to find a release from pain that has disabled me.
Any recommendations for us when we meet with the neurosurgeon?
After we meet with the Institute’s doctor on 2/27, we’ll share his findings with you.

MarieTaylo
Participant

February 14, 2017 at 1:43 pm

Post count: 13

#24336

We have in our possession all of my imaging studies of the cervical spine, operative reports, EMG’s, etc.
Once we’ve completed my evaluation, we’ll decide how to proceed.
Thank You.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

February 14, 2017 at 3:44 pm

Post count: 8660

#24337

Be careful using the cervical collar as use of it can reduce muscle strength which you need for day to day activities. You can wear it when pain becomes too intense. Again, Botox is a paralytic agent so injection in these muscles will create weakness so be careful if it is recommended.

A neurological consultation is not going to be helpful. I assume you mean a neurological surgery consultation which may be helpful.

Pain generation workup is a careful meticulous series of steps using imaging, diagnostic blocks and careful assessment of the potential causes of pain.

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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