Open posterior c6c7 discectomy/laminectomy and foraminotomy

Tagged: c6 c7Open posterior c6c7 discectomy/laminectomy and foraminotomy

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Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

February 10, 2016 at 6:47 pm

Post count: 8660

#21315

The symptoms you note could be from the effects of the steroid. Some patients feel “wired” and have difficulty sleeping. Steroids are known to cause GI upset and even ulcers. Patients are also known to be irritable so you might need to consider stopping the steroids.

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.

marta77
Participant

February 17, 2016 at 9:35 am

Post count: 18

#21365

Hi Dr. Corenman

My name is Luke and Marta is my wife. First I would like to thank you for all the help, we appreciated it very much.

I would like to update you and ask you for your opinion. Marta finished taking dexamethasone and her symptoms are coming back and getting stronger everyday. Her neurosurgeon wants to see her in about 4 weeks to send her to get mri. He also mentioned that Marta might need another surgery. What type of surgery would be necessary?? Surgery to remove fluid of something else?? I understand that every dr might take a different approach but we value your opinion very much.

Thank you very much,
Luke

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

February 20, 2016 at 9:59 am

Post count: 8660

#21376

I think a new MRI will be helpful. If her symptoms are returning, she might need an ACDF surgery at that level if there is continuing compression of the nerve root. The only way to know is a new MRI.

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.

marta77
Participant

February 21, 2016 at 9:24 am

Post count: 18

#21384

Good morning Doctor,
Thhhank you again for your response and time. I have another question for you which I always forget to ask doctor because that feeling just come and go and when I am not having this I just simply forget. I am going through it now when I am typing it to you so its very easy to explain exactly what I am going through.
Since I had herniation (it was happening before surgery as well) every time I am in rush or trying to accomplish any physical task but in hurry in faster pace than regular I get veeeeery jittery. By saying very jittery I mean like someone would give me 5 espresso coffees at once. I am not under any medication at all when it happens or low on sugar or hungry. I want bto say that so I will eliminate some of the factor which might be a reason. It doesn’t matter of the time of the day if I am full or hungry – once I start to rush and try to do something very fast my heart beat goes fast, i get veeeeery jittery I drop everything and left side of my neck on the side gets little symptoms including thyroid. That jitters situation happens multiple time before surgery as well after I herniated my disc.
Before herniation I never had that before . I am was very active person and very fast with accomplishing my tasks. Since I hernitaed my disc this happens eevry single time I rush. Today I was trying straight up our apaprtment and it happened again. Yesterday we were getting ready to leave and I was rushing get dressed and ready and I got soo jittery again.
Do you have any suggestion why it is happening to me since I am not taking any medication? and like I mentioned before even if I am full after meal it happens as well doesn’t matter what I ate or didn’t – once I start to rush i get like this , like I just had experesoo and red bull or 10 of them. Even now I had breakfast and I had so much trouble controlling this shaking while I type this. We also found on the internet that massage therapy might help absorb fluid ? Is that what you would maybe recommend?
Thank you for your opinion
Marta

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

February 21, 2016 at 10:01 am

Post count: 8660

#21386

“Jitteriness” can be a function of pain. There are some individuals who substitute “shakiness” instead of pain. I am not sure this could be you but you can answer this by just “taking stock” of how you feel in the positions that create “jitteriness”.

Massage is not a good idea in the face of a seroma. The manipulation of tissue can increase the size of the seroma.

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.

marta77
Participant

February 21, 2016 at 10:09 am

Post count: 18

#21387

i would like to show you were i feel my symptoms. I understand my arm and fingers but i do not really understand why my left side of stomach and only left side of vagina are effected. When i have sex it gives me “tingling” symptoms in my vagina and stomach, but only on the left side. its not all the time, only when im having all other disc related symptoms. I searched but could not find any information. All of these were present before the surgery

image where i drew my symptoms https://www.dropbox.com/s/b560abxz6hkuuzc/integumentary_system.jpg?dl=0

thank you Dr.

edit: strength of symptoms in my stomach increase when i take a deep breath
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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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