Charcot joints typically occur due to the lack of sensation of the spine below the spinal cord injury. These joints (named after the famous French neurologist-Charcot) are overused due to the lack of sensation.
Due to your need to push your lower body around but without specific muscular control due to the lack of sensation and motor connections, these joints become overstressed and “wear away to dust”. These are Charcot joints.
When you say your sacrum is “obliterated”, I assume that you were fused down to S1 from your prior injury and the sacroiliac joints are now worn out. Is this accurate?
If the pelvis is now unstable due to the Charcot sacroiliac joints, I would agree that you probably need stabilization. I would have to see your images before I can determine if this is something I am comfortable with or if you would need to be referred to another subspecialty surgeon.
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.
