question about pars fracture repair vs. fusion

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bwink23
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November 24, 2013 at 6:15 am

Post count: 16

#9845

OK….so i am 37 years old, very active up until about 4 years ago. I have hip pain, leg pain radiating to my knee and foot sometimes..all on the left side… and accompanying back pain. My CT scan showed unilateral pars defect at L5-S1,with 2mm spondylolthesis….MRI shows good disc height at l5/s1 and l4/l5….mild disc degeneration at l5/s1, and a loss of signal at disk l4/l5 with good disc space. No Nerve compression noted. at any level.

Now, i’ve read that this condition probably occurred when i was young, and i’ve had some low back pain reocurrances over the years, but ALL were on the right side, and not of this magnitude. I NEVER, EVER had pain on my left side up until one day when it hit me like a ton a bricks…no coincidence i was running frequently with weightlifting and sports at the time. I’ve had PT, injections at both discs, nothing worked I sometimes lose balance on my left leg and my knee feels swollen. My symptoms are chronic now, and have pain my left side, which i’ve never experienced before.

My question is, could my fracture be more recent than old due to my strenous activity, and my disc degeneration just be more wear and tear and age?? I cannot wrap my mind around fusion with all the horror stories out there….if i had test that conclusively showed my pars defect to be my direct cause of pain, WHY WOULD I NOT BE A CANDIDATE?

I have a 2mm slippage, which i would think is MINOR….i have a unilateral fracture, and not bilateral. i have disc change, but the doctors act like it is not extreme. This PARS DEFECT SURGERY sounds much better than the fusion. I guess i can’t funderstand why anyone would recommend fusion over this in “borderline” candidates when we all know what happens to your adjacent disks after fusion. DOMINO EFFECT, back surgery becomes an endless process of pain and suffering. WELL DOCUMENTED. Why remove a disc with mild change and minimal slippage, for NO MOTION and guaranteed future operations?

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
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November 24, 2013 at 10:20 pm

Post count: 8660

#9850

A unilateral (one-sided) pars fracture should not cause a slip. Think of a ring that is cut only on one side. The ring is still stable and should not displace unless the intact metal bends.

This might be what is happening in your case. There is a phenomenon called dysplasia where the bone will “bend” or in this case elongate. This disorder can occur on the intact side of the ring (the pars that is not fractured) which will allow a slip. The pars continues to appear to be intact on a CT scan but this pars is stretched if you carefully look at the length of the pars.

Your main symptom is buttocks and leg pain which is typically nerve root in origin. You must have a compressed L5 nerve root either from a disc herniation associated with this slip or foraminal stenosis (see website). The job of your physician is to identify the source of this nerve pain.

I consider surgical pars repairs at this time only for fractures that have no slip or degeneration of the disc. The pars repair is designed to prevent either the slip or the disc degeneration. In older populations (out of the early teen years) the success rate is somewhat lower for pars repairs to successfully work.

You are too concerned with fusion being a disaster which it is not. Early fusions (1970s and early 80s) were not very successful but that was due to poor diagnostics, poor technique and poor selection of candidates. Fusion is a good tool to control pain, instability or nerve root compression. I just published a paper using fusion as a treatment for lower back pain with a 90% success rate.

The domino effect you note is more associated with genetics than adjacent segment disease. A fusion does not guarantee future surgery.

I am not stating that fusion is the surgery you need but you do need to keep your mind open. Look into the source of your pain and what techniques you have at your disposal to eliminate this pain.

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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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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