Revision Surgery

Tagged: Cervical corpectomy pseudoarthrosis

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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RSSMITH
Participant

November 15, 2018 at 8:20 am

Post count: 23

#29804

Good Morning Sir-
I am 2 years post-op from C3-C5 anterior fusion with C-4 corpectomy using expandable cage as well as left c6/7 posterior formainotomy. Continued symptoms of bilateral trapezius & deltoid pain, radiculipathy down left arm into 2nd and 3rd digits with pain and numbness, tricep weakness and spasms.

Diagnosis of pseudoarthorsis (C4/5) and C7 radiculopathy due to disc osteophyte complex. There is 3.5 mm motion between the lamina in flexion and extension at C4-5, bone scan showed increase uptake in cervical spine and CT showed no evidence of solid fusion.

Initial plan is to do C5/6 and C6/7 anterior fusion with zero profile devices and then possibly C-3-5 posterior fusion at a later date to address the pseudoatrhosis. I asked if while we we doing the anterior if we could not go ahead and just do a revision on the corpectomy and avoid the posterior fusion. Doctor advised as long as there was not a lot of scar tissue that could be possible but if too much tissue it would require too much “chisling” and prove difficult. I am also concerned about what additional load the zero profile devices would put on the non-fused segments above it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated or do you feel we are on the right path?

As always-thank you for your service on this forum!

Kindest regards sir!

RSSMITH
Participant

November 15, 2018 at 8:47 am

Post count: 23

#29805

Sorry-I forgot to mention that MRI shows severe bilateral stenosis at C4/5 that is new/increased since the corpectomy surgery.

RSSMITH wrote:

Good Morning Sir-
I am 2 years post-op from C3-C5 anterior fusion with C-4 corpectomy using expandable cage as well as left c6/7 posterior formainotomy. Continued symptoms of bilateral trapezius & deltoid pain, radiculipathy down left arm into 2nd and 3rd digits with pain and numbness, tricep weakness and spasms.

Diagnosis of pseudoarthorsis (C4/5) and C7 radiculopathy due to disc osteophyte complex. There is 3.5 mm motion between the lamina in flexion and extension at C4-5, bone scan showed increase uptake in cervical spine and CT showed no evidence of solid fusion.

Initial plan is to do C5/6 and C6/7 anterior fusion with zero profile devices and then possibly C-3-5 posterior fusion at a later date to address the pseudoatrhosis. I asked if while we we doing the anterior if we could not go ahead and just do a revision on the corpectomy and avoid the posterior fusion. Doctor advised as long as there was not a lot of scar tissue that could be possible but if too much tissue it would require too much “chisling” and prove difficult. I am also concerned about what additional load the zero profile devices would put on the non-fused segments above it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated or do you feel we are on the right path?

As always-thank you for your service on this forum!

Kindest regards sir!

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

November 17, 2018 at 11:58 am

Post count: 8660

#29809

Generally, corpectomy surgeries have a much more difficult time healing that standard ACDFs. It seems to be what you are experiencing now. The lowest level of the corpectomy is not solid and the motion is causing bone spur formation exemplified by (“severe bilateral stenosis at C4/5 that is new/increased since the corpectomy surgery”).

I think you need to find out which nerve is causing your current arm pain to the fingers. It could be the C6 or the C7 nerves. A selective nerve root block would be helpful to diagnose this particular nerve. The shoulder pain could also be caused by the C5 nerve as you now have severe bilateral stenosis at C4/5 (the exit of the C5 nerves).

You already have failures of C3-4 and C4-5 as well as C6-7. You don’t mention the current status of the C5-6 level. You could consider leaving this level out if healthy but when sandwiched between fused levels above and below, it will probably wear out eventually.

If the C4-5 level is very degenerative due to the pseudoarthrosis, a posterior fusion of C3-5 may not give you relief of the C5 nerve compression as foraminal narrowing does not respond well to a posterior decompression.

See:
https://neckandback.com/conditions/symptoms-of-cervical-nerve-injuries/
https://neckandback.com/treatments/epidural-injections-and-selective-nerve-root-blocks-diagnostic-and-therapeutic-neck/
https://neckandback.com/treatments/pain-diary-instructions-for-spinal-injections-neck/
https://neckandback.com/treatments/posterior-cervical-foramenotomy/

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.

RSSMITH
Participant

November 17, 2018 at 12:13 pm

Post count: 23

#29811

Thank you so much for the helpful response. The C5 level shows broad based disc bulge with moderate bilateral foraminal stenosis. We did a series of SNRBs and I had the greatest releif at the C7 level.

I am hoping they can do an anterior revision on the corpectomy as I too am concerned about any releif from a posterior approach. Their concern is how much work it would take if the cage is embedded. I definitely want to go anterorily for everything. They just advise they won’t know until we get in there.

Again thank you so much for sharing your valuable insights. Have a good day sir!

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

November 17, 2018 at 12:58 pm

Post count: 8660

#29812

I can see no reason why you could not go anteriorly as the X-rays and the CT scan should allow the surgeon to plan for any problems. Even if the cage is somewhat embedded, the films will demonstrate how much ingrowth is present at the top of the construct and what would need to be done for a revision.

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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