Returned and worsened pain in neck and strangling feeling In throat

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Ren24
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January 26, 2015 at 7:35 am

Post count: 21

#12085

Hello Dr
I had disc extrusion to the right in June of 2014 at C5-C6 and a discs tony with allograft and Plating. The pain medication I was on seems to have masked and continues to mask a sensTio. Of pressure-jagging-strangling at the level of fusion. I also have had the return of all the pain in my. Neck worse than before with addition of pain down left arm as well. Both shoulders hurt. My left hand has tingling and shocking sensTions and my right ha d goes numb. It seems to be my thumb and pointer finger and at times my middle finger which go completely dead when I sleep I. One side or the other. The neck pain is on the right of c spine and circular around C6-7 and down right side of spine between shoulder blade and spine. A therapist had me out. Tennis ball in that area and try to press it against the wAll and massage it circular which caused me where pain. The kind which nauseated me and if it continued I would pass out. I am in pain all the time and I am so stiff and sore I can. Barely move at times. Is it possible this is from a failed fusion or a reaction. To whatever was used for the plating . A lot of allergies and sensitivities run in the family. It’s been 6 months since my surgery and an mri in December is saying I ha e a bone spacer. Not a fusion of starting fusion. This Mir also stated I have slight decrease in the disc height at c4-5 and a slight increase in protrusion. Some places indenting cord space and one of the foraminal openings is narrowed. Please help me. I am so miserable with pain and these irritating numbness and tingling and this thing with my throat and the pressure strangling feeling is unbearable. Correct me if I’m wrong but if I don’t fuse the plate cannot be removed ( which I am convinced is causing this throat feeling). I had several swallowing tests which showed a narrowing of esophagus at level of playing but allows the food to pass with a little residual left. This only begins my symptoms and issues with it. I’ve lost my job. My health insurance my retirement. At this point I only want my life back pain free. Can you eSe suggest what may. E happening or help me in some way. Thank you so much

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

January 26, 2015 at 8:38 pm

Post count: 8660

#12088

It sounds like you might have a pseudoarthrosis (failed fusion) of your C5-6 ACDF. You might also have one of the peripheral nerve entrapment/compression syndromes along with a pseudoarthrosis. Forget about the “tennis ball” treatment as this will make the neck pain worse.

I all my years doing surgery, I have never found an allergy to a titanium plate. The plate can be removed in the face of a pseudoarthrosis as long as the pseudoarthrosis is stable (very common).

Your report of esophageal narrowing is unusual as the plate generally is 2mm thick and sits right on the bone of the vertebra replacing a ligament (the ALL) which is 1mm thick. The plate should only be 1mm prominent unless the spurs from the prior degenerative disc are still present and the plate is mounted on top of those spurs.

You need consultation from an experienced spine surgeon to help you understand what current problems you have and what can be done for them.

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.

Ren24
Participant

January 27, 2015 at 11:34 am

Post count: 21

#12095

I’m awAre this is educational and am gettin a consult from a surgeon this week one last question as my appt is not for a few days and I ha shad a new symptom if that’s what you would call it. The right rear side of my C spine I started having this severe throbbing pulsating pain about half way down my cervical area which does radiate down the right side of my spine. System it and my shoulder blad. It is the kind of pain that freezes you and a you can do is hold still and it move. Hoping it will go away. I hate to toto the ER as I have been thru this and sent home without help many times. Is this something I should go to ER for? It’s very frightening and painful and I’m not sure what it is or what to do as it’s totally new thank you for any advice. I can use as much education on this as possible so I can learn toms age this and when to head to hospital for help. Oh. It goes into right shoulder n along top of collarbone as well. I’m tired of all this pain. This pain is not touched by my pain medication

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

January 28, 2015 at 9:27 pm

Post count: 8660

#12102

Severe pain can occur after a pseudoarthrosis but there are other disorders that can cause this pain. I cannot tell you from this distance what the disorder is. Let us know after your spine consult what the surgeon thinks.

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.

Ren24
Participant

January 29, 2015 at 9:00 pm

Post count: 21

#12111

Hello dr
I see
The new neurosurgeon today. Had mri yesterday. I’m no expert
But from what I sawmon there didn’t look very good. I watche’d your you tube demonstrations on how to view mri s and it was very informative and easy to understand. I am an RN and ha e some history with this having previous surgery and doing tons of research. I wish I had
Found your site and knew the risks and symptoms before I had the surgery I did. I ha e serious pain which I am afraid may be chronic due to a poor instruction from surgical group. Anyway will let you know what happens. Wish I could let you see this mri right now Thank you

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

January 29, 2015 at 10:08 pm

Post count: 8660

#12113

I will eventually develop a tool to place images here anonymously but that day is not here yet. Keep us informed of your progress please.

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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