numbness in left leg and no reflexis in left leg

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DIAMONDCOBRA
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April 21, 2012 at 4:16 am

Post count: 5

#6053

I got hurt at work in 05-05-2008 had test done and mri’s ended up had to have sergery on my back on 10-29-2008 a lumbar arthroplasy i have a pro disc installed at the S1-L5 the doctor told me the disc he took out crumbled in his hand he said he had never seen one do that, since then i’ve had proplems with a popping in my lower back around were the disc is at, i have weakness in my leg and have had 4 times fallen because my leg felt like it just quit on me i have numbness in my left leg all the way down to my foot doctor checked my reflexies on my left leg i had no reflexies on my knees and the doctor tried using alcohoil swab on my foot and leg i didnt feel the cool sinsation it gives i could only feel a light touch i cant sleep on my bed i have to sleep in a rycliner i cant lift anything heavy i get sharp pains in my back i have no range of motion leaning backwards and only 50% ging left to right and have to rotate sitting and standing every 30 minutes or so im worried about what could be wrong i cant get my doctor to help me figure out what is wrong i tell her all the time about what is going on she just seems to play it down but i cant live like this for ever so any advise would help

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

April 21, 2012 at 10:51 pm

Post count: 8660

#6059

I am not a fan of lumbar disc replacements for this reason. The artificial disc allows motion that is not natural and can place stress on the facets. The nerve root can get “caught” in the foramen by aberrant motion and cause leg pain.

How long has this disc been present? Did the symptoms start immediately after the disc placement? Was the placement of the disc replacement between the vertebra acceptable or off center? Has this disc replacement recessed into the vertebral body? Was a CT scan performed to determine the placement after surgery when symptoms first started? Were flexion/extension and lateral bending X-rays taken to determine the function of the disc? Has the rest of the spine been imaged to determine if another level of the lumbar spine could be involved?

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.

DIAMONDCOBRA
Member

April 22, 2012 at 10:52 am

Post count: 5

#6072

it was put in 10-29-2008 i had alot of pain from surgery but being aworker comp case the surgeon droped me in december of 2008 and the doctor on my case realeased me on may of 2009 before my recovery was complete but my impairment rating was i couldnt lift,pull or carry more then 25 pounds and had to alter sitting and standing every 30 minutes but my range of motion was never right i could touch the floor going forward but not side to side or backwards but it still clicks sometimes but pain is always there and numbness they never go away no cat scan was down but i had mri down of my lower back just 2 weeks ago and my left hip too but they were unable to look at the disc witch they didnt do much looking at the rest of the back they did a poor job because the 3 mri i had done in 2009 showed alot more wrong and was very detailed in their findings i keep copies of all my mri’s on disc for protection and the reports i always thought it didnt look staight and they put the disc in through the bottom of my stomch area that didnt go through the back i was told by one doctor before surgery that i had the back of a 70 year old man that alot of my vertabre were dehydrated no flexon/extention and lateral bending xrays have been taken at the emergency room they said they thought a nerv could be pinched or damaged and sometimes when im at the store and pushing a cart it almost seems like i walk crooked like imslightly turned to the right on the bottom have of my body sorry if that sounds wierd any more help would be appretiated i live in FORT COLLINS CO.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

April 22, 2012 at 10:29 pm

Post count: 8660

#6075

You just had an MRI of your back and left hip two weeks ago. I imagine that the disc could not be visualized as the metal (chrome-cobalt) made the spinal imaging obscured. I assume that you are having left thigh or buttocks pain for your physician to recommend a hip MRI. By the way, these discs implanted for the lower back always have to be implanted through the lower stomach.

The doctor you saw before the surgery stated; “i had the back of a 70 year old man that alot of my vertabre were dehydrated”. If that was accurate, how did the surgeon select the disc to replace? Was a discogram performed?

You have glanced at your own X-rays. Do you note the artificial disc placement is symmetric or does it appear off center or angled?

Do you feel any better after this disc placement or do you feel worse? Obviously, you had to have substantial symptoms to contemplate this disc replacement in the first place. How did those symptoms change?

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.

DIAMONDCOBRA
Member

April 23, 2012 at 11:31 am

Post count: 5

#6083

yes a discogram was done were they shot die i think and presured up the disc to find what disc was bad i had 2 injections and had several test sone with electric needles on diffrent parts of the back and legs but was funny was on my left leg i didnt have the reaction or jumping feeling i got evrywhere else and the doctor didnt seem seem to think it was a problem with it i mean i felt it but it just like a touch not a shock the disc to me on the pickure i got looked like there was soom space on each side of the disc and the xray of it after the surgury it looked crooked like not centered I dont feel like i got better after surgury i cant do anything normal i cant ride in a car for long trip i begine to hurt in my lower back i cant even wash dishes for only a short time because if i lean forward i begine to hurt so bad that i have to put a hand down to hold my self up but i have doctors that dont want to find the problem they just ignore it like the mri i had said they couldnt see the S1-L5 disc because of the artifical disc but my doctor called and said the disc showed the disc looked fine no problems with it but i have a copy of the mri they wrote and a dvd of the mri and it doesn’t say that at all i caught them in a lie but didnt say anything im confused on how to handle that i always trusted my doctors but twice now i was lied to just so i would go away but how can i make them understand what is going on if they have never expericene it them selfs i think the disc was bad it was made to belive i would be better then before but it wasn’t sorry for the book

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

April 24, 2012 at 12:20 am

Post count: 8660

#6086

There are a number of issues to address. First, how bad was the disc degeneration? I know you can’t determine this yourself so go to the MRI report prior to surgery and note what the radiologist stated to describe the disc.

Pain in the back can occasionally be generated by the facets. Did you have facet blocks (see website) prior to your discogram? If not, facet blocks might be appropriate now to determine if these can be contributing to your pain.

The “electrical shocks” were from an EMG test. This test in my opinion was unneeded as it would not help to discern what is causing your pain. Your complaint is back pain, not leg pain.

Eventually without improvement, you might need a fusion of this level. Taking out this artificial disc is somewhat risky as a repeat anterior approach to the lumbar spine involves scar tissue but at least the L5-S1 level has the least risk involved. A simple posterior fusion can be performed with low risk and the artificial disc can be left in.

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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