Recent ACDF, nerve flare ups and possible Posterior surgery

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rd4610
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August 26, 2013 at 5:00 am

Post count: 2

#9273

On Aug 1st I had ACDC C3-C7, Fusion and corpectomy of C6.
Doing extremely well post op.

#1-On my 3 week visit with the surgeon he told me the condition of bones was poor and her worries about the screw eventually popping out. In October he would like to go in posterior and add hardware to shore up my neck.

Is this typically done? Will it be a lot more painful than the anterior route? Will this also give me arm pain after the new procedure? Im really doing well now and am not looking to pain!

2) The only reason I went for cervial MRI when I did was that I started having a lot of numb sesations and big jurking sensation thru my body.a, tingling and burning of both my arms and legs which in a matter of 2 weeks started making it impossible for me to walk. I had crazy nerve elecrtical shots of pain running thru my body. Loud noises would also affect me by sending a jerking sesation thru my body. I could barely walk even with a cane, The Mri came back bad I had a lot of occusion of my spine. The started me on steroid dose pack which helped totally before my surg, So then I had the surgery 25 days agao and starting last night I get the whole nerve flare up again only worse than the first time. I started have tremors and while lying in bed, legs jurking up and down on bed I took the morning dose of steroids, ate lunch and then took another Ambien to knock me out. Slept only 4 hrs and its calmed down now but still walking slowly with a cane. The dr says this is normal and a flareup of the nerves. What do you think? Hard to hold a fork, oprn bottles and more.

3) took he last Ambien at 11 am and lasted till 4 pm. Kust took another at 4 pm to escape my spmtoms and will be up for 8 pm “Breaking Bad”, will eat alittle and prob TAKE ANOTHER. ANY DANGER TO THT? I NEED TO SLEEP THRU THE NERVE PAID AND FLARES… ROBIN D,

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

August 26, 2013 at 8:43 pm

Post count: 8660

#9276

Your surgeon might have noted severe osteoporosis during surgery (the bone was very soft). If the screws that hold the plate on had very poor purchase (like putting a screw into Swiss cheese instead of a wood like oak), then she might have cause for concern. This surgeon might have looked at the post-operative X-rays and found a change in position of the grafts or the screws and be worried about displacement.

In general, tremors are not associated with cord or nerve root compression. Tremors are generally associated with brain dysfunction of some type.

A posterior fusion in the cervical spine is somewhat more painful than an anterior fusion in general. Ask your surgeon why she needs to perform a posterior cervical fusion. Have her show you the films and demonstrate why she feels the surgery needs reinforcement.

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.

rd4610
Member

August 26, 2013 at 9:43 pm

Post count: 2

#9278

Thank you so much for your reply!!
No posterior fusion but going in posterior to apply an additional cage and screws.
and Yes, he said my bone quality was bad and was worried about the screws.

So is what makes going posterior more painful just the extra cutting of the muscle and nerves even with just adding cage and screws? Does that usually affect movement of the arms and shoulders for awhile?

The nerve flare up after one full day of steroid was amazing, I am walking so much better. I seriously walked and moved like a patient that had cerebral palsy. It was bad all day. Ended up taking ambien during day to knock me out!

Thank you so much
Robin
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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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