POST C4C5, C5C6,AND C6C7 FUSION NOW WITH PAIN AGAIN

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Neck 67
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February 16, 2014 at 1:54 am

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#10333

I HAD C5C6 DISCECTOMY WITH FUSION ABOUT 13 YEARS AGO, SAME SURGERY ON C4/5 ABOUT 5 YEARS AGO AND SAME SURGERY ON C6C7 ABOUT 3 YEARS AGO. OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS I HAVE BEEN HAVING SIGNIFICANT PAIN ACROSS MY LEFT SHOULDER BLADE DOWN THE BACK OF MY ARM INTO THE PINKY FINGER AND THE FINGER NEXT TO PINKY. TINGLING IS PRESENT AND ARM FEELS WEAK. I AM HAVING SOME TROUBLE WITH FINE MOTOR SKILLS IN MY LEFT HAND. I HAD AN MRI LAST WEEK AS ORDERED BY MY ORTHOPAEDIC DR. THE RESULTS ARE AS FOLLOW
THERE HAS BEEN FUSION FROM C4 TO C7 AND THE FUSION APPEARS SOLID. AT THE C3-4 LEVEL THERE IS DEGENERATIVE CHANGE IN THE LEFT UNCONVERTEBRAL JOINT WITH ENCROACHMENT ON THE LEFT NEURAL FORAMEN THAT IS MOST LIKELY NOT COMPRESSING THE C4 NERVE ROOT. AT THE C6-7 LEVEL ON THE LEFT THERE IS FORMINAL ENCROACHMENT WITH UNCERTAIN IMPACT ON THE C7 NERVE ROOT. THE REMAINING FORAMINA ARE UNREMARKABLE. NO SPINAL STENOSIS IS SEEN. THE CORD HAS A NORMAL APPEARANCE.

IMPRESSION
1. FUSION FROM C4-C7
2. LEFT FORAMINAL NARROWING AT THE C6-7 LEVEL WITH UNCERTAIN IMPACT ON THE LEFT C7 NERVE ROOT.
3. DEGENERATIVE CHANGE AT THE C3-4 LEVEL WITH MILD FORAMINAL ENCROACHMENT THAT IS PROBABLY NOT COMPRESSING THE C4 NERVE ROOT.

MY DR. HAS ORDERED PT FOR ME, WHICH I START NEXT WEEK. I FINISHED A MEDROL DOSE PACK TODAY. I HAVE FLEXERIL WHICH HELPS VERY LITTLE. MY DR. IS REFERRING ME TO AN NEUROLOGIST FOR A EMG TEST. IT MAY TAKE SEVERAL WEEKS FOR ME TO BE WORKED IN TO THEIR SCHEDULE. I AM VERY FRUSTRATED AND AS I AM TYPING THIS THE PAIN IS SIGNIFICANT AND MY LEFT ARM FEELS QUITE WEAK. THE PAIN IS WORSE WHEN I TURN MY HEAD TO THE LEFT. SOUNDS LIKE FROM MY MRI THAT I MAY STILL HAVE PROBLEMS FROM MY C6-7 AREA WHICH I HAVE ALREADY HAD SURGERY ON. CAN YOU PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR IMPRESSION FROM THE INFO. I HAVE GIVEN YOU.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
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February 16, 2014 at 8:38 pm

Post count: 8660

#10334

I will assume that the first two surgeries at C5-6 and then C4-5 went well without residual symptoms. The last surgery at C6-7 probably went well as you had three years between this surgery and the new onset of symptoms.

Pain down into the pinky finger is the C8 or the T1 dermatome (the nerve that supplies this region). This is also the distribution of the ulnar nerve (the ulnar nerve contains fibers of C8 and T1). That with the combination of perceived weakness and fine motor skill loss adds to the suspicion of these nerve being involved.

Residual compression of the C7 nerve (“LEFT FORAMINAL NARROWING AT THE C6-7 LEVEL WITH UNCERTAIN IMPACT ON THE LEFT C7 NERVE ROOT”) has probably been there for the entire time since surgery and if you have a solid fusion, I would not expect that the amount of that narrowing has changed in the last three years. Also, the C7 nerve radiates pain into the middle finger of the hand and not the pinky finger.

I am suspicious that there is dysfunction of the noted nerve structures above (C8, T1 or ulnar nerve). This could be cubital tunnel syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome (see website for both diagnoses) or a missed disc herniation at C7-T1 or T1-2 which is not uncommon to be missed.

Make sure that the images are reviewed again for a lower disc herniation. Sometimes, a new herniation can be missed if it is very hydrated (full of water) and has a bright signal which blends in with the surrounding tissues. A good physical examination can also identify which nerve is involved. An EMG test is valuable if the test is performed at least three weeks after the onset of symptoms (it takes three weeks to show changes in the muscles with a nerve injury).

Finally, if all those other tests do not find the source of this nerve problem, you might be left with only the foraminal stenosis of C6-7 level as a potential diagnosis. Then, a selective nerve root block (SNRB-see website) of the C7 nerve with good diagnostic relief might confirm that the C7 nerve is involved. The chances of this are slim in my opinion.

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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