POST OP HARDWARE PROBLEMS

Tagged: 3 prior ACDFs with swallowing and voice problems and screw backing out

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Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

October 6, 2019 at 8:03 pm

Post count: 8660

#31248

To recap your history: “So i had the ACDF on C5,6,7 like i was told i needed. It did not give me any feeling back in my legs or feet! I found that all i could feel was big time pain in my arms and hands. I couldn’t hold anything without dropping it. I was still having incontinence. I was a mess. The Dr didn’t care to answer my questions. 2 days after the surgrey after my brother felt my left legg, he freaked out because it was ice cold. He told my nurse and they sent me to have a ultra sound on the leg. I had a DVT in my calf AND a pulmonary embolism in both lungs! Still paralyzed”. I am unclear why you lost sensation and strength in your leg but the cord could have been compressed causing myelopathy”. See this: https://neckandback.com/conditions/cervical-central-stenosis-and-myelopathy/

“93 days in the hospital then to inpatient rehabilitation to try and learn to walk again”. I assume a rehab hospital.

“In May 2017 i had my 2nd ACDF” and “My pcp ordered a MRI. It showed a large broad based disc ( bone spur ) stabbed right between my spine and C3..After this surgery, it was way wrong immediately after surgery”.

“M<lle recent aurge,y at the upper two levets, with lack or fusion at the C3-4 interspaoe and loosening along the &crew&. The right side screw has backed out ol the plate slightly. other levels show adequale bony fusion”. It sounds like you have had a non-union of C3-4 with instrumentation failure (not uncommon).

“I go back and he tells me that the last fusion didn’t work”. He sounds correct.

Your new MRI notes; “The cord has normal signal. C3-C4: A broad-based diffuse posterior disc-osteophyle complex present. This causes narrowing of the neural foram1na particularly on the nght Mild to Moderate cord nattenlng is present. C4-C5: Mild postenor 061eophyte lormabon is present and causes mild cord attenuabon antEt,or1y”. C5-6 and C6-7 sound to be fused and “OK”.

You then note; “He did call and tell me that i still needed to have him remove HW, REDO C3-4 ACDF and he still needed to go in posterior as well as anterior in order to make sure the plate is fastened down properly in order to hopefully obtain a successful fusion”. With the screw protruding and the level not fused, one of the ways to gain a successful fusion is to go in front and back to get enough fixation to get this level to fuse.

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.

trenee
Participant

October 7, 2019 at 3:17 am

Post count: 16

#31251

Dr i seem to be missing your comments regarding the info and questions i sent you? I recieved an email showing you had recently viewed my message . I’ve been dying to hear from you about my situation. Once i clicked on our conversations i didn’t see anything new from you except giving me a link to read about mylopathy.. Im certain you didn’t just send me that link after reading my current medical status im in and in dire need to find out the answers i asked you.

Tammy Willcockson

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

October 8, 2019 at 8:23 pm

Post count: 8660

#31267

I not only replied to your original post (see above) but you posted again on another thread the same post that I again answered to.

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.

trenee
Participant

October 8, 2019 at 10:33 pm

Post count: 16

#31270

Well i didn’t mean to make you mad Dr. I really didn’t see your responses in your reply post.
I seen your email showing you had replied to my post and when once i logged in i started reading it. Problem was my eyes are really bad. I wear glasses but i misplaced and had to try and read things without them. I just read your reply and wanted to thank you .
I’m very sorry sir.
If you don’t mind can you please tell me what cord flattening is and how it’s fixed.

Tammy Willcockson

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

October 10, 2019 at 7:30 pm

Post count: 8660

#31280

The spinal cord is typically shaped like a kidney bean. When the canal becomes narrowed, the cord becomes flattened. This may or may not cause symptoms which are typically that of myelopathy. Pain due to cord deformity is typically not painful as the cord really does not have pain receptors in it. “Fixing’ cord flatting that is symptomatic consists of either decompressing the canal from the back (laminectomy or laminoplasty) or fusion from the front.

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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