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  • Big nerve
    Participant
    Post count: 11

    Hi doctor
    I have been on forum previously and you have been very helpful with your answers and thank you very much for the service you provide well i will start with i had decopression surgery on L5 s1 nerve on the 19/5/11 and i am still having massive problems my phsio thinks i might have adhesive acranoiditis because of the way i describe the pain and on my last mri it says there is some clumping of the nerves my other problem being at the moment is that i have a very sore neck and that i get numbness and pins and needles in my left pinky finger and half of the one next to it not constant but very often also my right hand goes numb and pins and needles all over i was wondering if you could let me know what you think it could be thankyou doctor

    Donald Corenman, MD, DC
    Moderator
    Post count: 8656

    Arachnoiditis in the lower lumbar spine will not cause neck pain and arm symptoms. Why did you have L5-S1 decompression surgery? Did the symptoms get better after surgery or did they get worse? Have the symptoms changed? What did your surgeon say about your symptoms? When did your neck and arm symptoms start?

    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.
    Big nerve
    Participant
    Post count: 11

    I had my first surgery approx 14 years ago on L5 S1 it was laciectomy and had been pretty good unless i did something that i should not have been doing but on the whole pretty good just every now and then i would have pain then at the end of march 2011 i lifted a keg of beer which was wedge then after that i got pain in lower back also in my buttock as well as my left leg my symtoms have got worse since surgery because the pain is in all different places and it just does not let up and with all that my neck is killing me.He looked at my mri before surgery and after surgery ang said that the disc looked irratated which might mean that there is a infection there he said that there was clumping on the first mri but there was more now but he does not think that it is a problem because it was clumped before and i did not have any trouble i first started to get neck pain approx 3 weeks after surgery but was not that bad just thought it was the way i slept but it is getting worse and the numbness in my fingers is getting more frequent some times i think i am in one big bad dream this has been going on too long i have 3 kids and i need to get back to work i hope i have answered the questions correctly sorry for the long story and again doctor thanks for this great service you provide

    Donald Corenman, MD, DC
    Moderator
    Post count: 8656

    Please slow down to describe your history.

    14 years ago you had your first laminectomy at L5-S1. You did well until March of this year when you lifted a keg of beer. You developed back, buttocks and left leg pain. You apparently had surgery again- I will assume another decompression laminectomy.

    Your symptoms became worse and changed after surgery. By your description, the original symptoms intensified and new symptoms developed. Forgetting your neck symptoms at this point- did any new symptoms occur in your lower back, left leg or right leg? Do your back and leg symptoms become worse with standing or sitting? Do you have new pain in your right leg? What is the ratio of pain in your back to pain in your leg? Is your back pain worse than your leg pain in a 60/40 or 70/30 ratio or is it reversed?

    The surgeon stated to you that there might be an infection present. Did he work that up to disprove it or could there still be an infection present?

    The clumping of nerves in the spinal canal is from arachnoiditis. The surgeon identified arachnoiditis before your March 2011 surgery and thought that it was not causing problems. Does he now blame the arachnoiditis for your current symptoms?

    You developed neck pain and arm paresthesias 3 weeks after your latest lower back surgery. Most likely your neck symptoms are from a problem in your neck and not related to your lower back. These symptoms could have developed from a preexisting problem that just surfaced, an aggravation of a problem from the intubation during surgery (preexisting foraminal stenosis that was aggravated by the extension maneuver necessary to intubate your trachea), or something else. There is an extremely rare possibility that if you did have an infection in your lower back disc, you could have seeded your neck with a new infection.

    What does your surgeon propose as the next step?

    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.
    Big nerve
    Participant
    Post count: 11

    Thank you again doctor for taking the time to answer my questions as am very worried with what is going on yes it was a decompression laminectomy that i had in may of this year yes my symptoms did become worse after surgery i get pain in my right calf and right buttock and right thigh and also my left toe goes numb as well as my right toe but not at the same time and my right thigh goes numb as well and my lower back is sore both sides ican not sit for to long because i get really sore in my lower back also my toes go numb and i can not stand for to long because my left or right buttock gets a ache in it 50/50 i just seem to have pain constently no i am having a test tommorrow i think it is called a nuclar test he did say he does not think there is a infection but just wants to elimanate it No when i ask him about arachnoididitis he said if i had no problem with it before that he does not think it would cause a problem now even though they are more clump now sorry doctor i am not very good at explaining things and being in pain i just seem to rave on and on thanks doctor for answering my questions you do help alot

    Donald Corenman, MD, DC
    Moderator
    Post count: 8656

    You now have both increased left and new onset right leg pain after a decompression surgery of the lumbar spine. The differential includes recurrent herniation, lateral recess or foraminal stenosis, instability, infection, chronic radiculopathy, aggravation of arachnoiditis or iatrogenic injury. (see website for explanation of all diagnoses)

    Have your surgeon go through the various possibilities. There is an answer and with careful workup, the answer can be found.

    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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