MRI IMAGE

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taresh14
Member

June 7, 2014 at 10:52 pm

Post count: 3

#10963

Dr.Corenman,

Hi , I am Taresh from India.I am 28 years old and have had backpain since 18yrs.Recently I got an MRI done and was diagnosed with l4-l5 and l5-s1 disc protrusion compressing anterior thecal sac and compressing left and right nerve root respectively.However the report and the image when compared appears the opposite.It looks like a posterior bulge.I have mild to sharp pain in my right buttock at times.My episode of pain appears only once in 4 months , when I practice martial arts , spin kicks and jump kicks.The back pain subsides in generally a week’s time.I am confused as to how to go about my back pain and rehab excercise because I am still confused to which side my bulge is.I am a pilot with the armed forces, flying transport aircraft and do run 5-6 miles daily when I am pain free.

Please help.My MRI image/report is confusing.

Thanks,
Taresh

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

June 8, 2014 at 3:11 am

Post count: 8660

#10966

Your back pain is probably from lumbar degenerative disc disease (DDD-see website). Martial arts put unusual torsion on the lumbar spine which will be noticed with lower back pain in some individuals who have DDD.

You can help to reduce the torsion with core strengthening exercises. I recommend Pilates as this seems to be the best exercise to work the core muscles. It will take you three months to develop enough strength to be able to withstand these forces in martial arts.

You do not have to worry which side the bulge is the greatest at this time as you don’t currently need interventional care. If time comes that you do need it, the injections should be on the side of greatest pain, not greatest pathology.

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.

taresh14
Member

June 8, 2014 at 12:45 pm

Post count: 3

#10974

Dr.Corenman,

My concern is about the rehab/physio exercises I have to undertake.Do I have a posterior /anterior bulge ? Do I restrict myself to flexion/extension excercises? The report confuses me in this regard.
The report says :

1.Spinal curvature is maintained
2.veterbral bodies show normal signal intensity
3.height of vertebral bodies are normal
4.Endplates showing normal signal intensities
5.disc protrusion seen at l4-l5 compressing anterior thecal sac and traversing left nerve root
6.disc protrusion seen at l5-s1 compressing anterior thecal sac and traversing right nerve root
7.Disc hydration is lost at lower levels
8.ALL n PLL are normal at all levels
9.ligamentum flavum is normal
10.bony spinal dimension is normal
11.lateral recess is normal
12.pre and para vertebral spaces are normal
13.visualised cord is normal
14.cord is seen to end at L1
15.intervertebral neural foramina are normal
16.visualised facets are normal

Impression

1.disc protrusion seen at l4-l5 compressing anterior thecal sac and traversing left nerve root
2.disc protrusion seen at l5-s1 compressing anterior thecal sac and traversing right nerve root

Kindly opine on the report and please do recommend the rehab excercise I need to undergo.My MRI images are available online.But unfortunately cant upload them here since it appears as spam when I try to do so.

Thanks a lot.

Taresh

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

June 8, 2014 at 10:18 pm

Post count: 8660

#10975

The discs are bulged or herniated posteriorly. The way this is dictated sounds somewhat confusing but it really makes sense if you understand the anatomy. Since the nerve root sack (the dural sac) is posterior to these herniations, the ANTERIOR sac is effaced by these posterior bulges.

These are typical disc herniations. You might also try epidural steroid injections if you find Pilates exercises are not as effective as you might like after three months.

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.

taresh14
Member

June 8, 2014 at 10:30 pm

Post count: 3

#10978

Dr.Corenman ,

Thanks a lot for your reply.Can I have please have your email Id so that I could fwd u my MRI images for a better understanding of my anatomy.Your website posts links as spams.

Thanks ,
Taresh

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

June 8, 2014 at 11:07 pm

Post count: 8660

#10981

You can send a message on the website and it will be picked up by my nurses and delivered to me. My nurses can give you information regarding delivery of images.

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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