[Donald Corenman, MD, DC]

#22124

Your response is confusing. If there is cord edema present and/or swelling, it would not “crowd the cord” unless there was additional tissue in the canal. The canal normally is at least twice to three times the size of the spinal cord in the thoracic spine region. You can develop “granulation tissue” (healing scar tissue) in the canal but it rarely is large enough a mass to compress the cord.

You might try an epidural in the surgical area as steroid will reduce inflammation and reduce pain.

I will assume that the area in question was not surgically fused (bone graft and hardware placed to grow the vertebra together).

Spinal cord stimulators can be helpful in your particular case. You might consider a consultation with an expert in this field.

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.

[JBoz]

#22126

Dr. Corenamn, I apologize for not being clear. I’m not even clear on what I’m dealing with here. When you say crowding, that is the perfect word for what I’m seeing. The protrusion and compression looks resolved, as the report states, but now I have the edema, which is crowding the canal.

I uploaded a before from 9/2016 and an after from this past Friday the 29th. I tried to find the exact same location as best as I could on the mages. This is a temporary link, but I know images speak louder than words.

Hopefully you can look at these and better understand.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=6C57191CB99D694E!9090&authkey=!AIY78QoeBhf15iM&ithint=folder%2c

Thank you Dr. Corenman, you have been very helpful. I hope this sheds light. My concern is they compared this to a MRI from a month after surgery, and this recent one with worsened fluid buildup, or tissue. The surgeon was called the same day. So I’m under the impression it must be important for that to occur. I do understand there is so much more to images than what I have here, these were the best to show before and after.

Thank you so much,

JBoz

[JBoz]

#22128

Dr. Corenman, I’m grateful for all your information, and I know you charge to review images. I do not have the money for a review. I just thought that these two pictures would help make sense of something I could not put into words. If you could delete the single post above after you see them, I would appreciate you doing so. I really cannot thank you enough for your wisdom. You have been a lifeline for me time and time again.

Thank you very much,

[Donald Corenman, MD, DC]

#22149

Sorry but I don’t open files under this forum for fear of malware.

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.

[JBoz]

#22150

Dr. Corenman, I understand.

I wish I could better describe the details. I think my primary concern is the spinal canal has less room now than before. I’m concerned that the radiologist had to call the surgeon the same day, and that is shows edema worsened from one month after surgery. I fear this is getting worse, I base that off the pain and symptoms of my chest pain and the new back pain. I seriously was hoping for healing to be taking place, but as you said it could possibly be damage or injury to the spinal cord.

The one thing left out on the report is how it impacts my cord. The other MRI said severe flattening. this just says 2cm vertically of moderate to severe edema, and or the myelomalacia.

Again I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. I think I need to wait for my surgeon to get back to me. I don’t know how serious this is right now, and that is the single most frustrating part. I thought it was serious because my surgeon had to be called. I have done a lot of images in the past, that has never occurred.

Thanks again,

[Donald Corenman, MD, DC]

#22160

If the canal is narrowed by edema or granulation tissue, it might be worth an epidural steroid injection. If the myelomalacia is worse now than before, than only time is the helpful factor.

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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