Still in pain after all these years... feeling a bit blue

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trueblue9
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January 12, 2015 at 11:53 am

Post count: 3

#12009

Hello, I am a 55 year old woman who used to be very active but no more. I have had surgery on C3-7 .. l4-5 and now have a herniated S1 ..ignoring that as they are more worried about my neck in pain 24/7 numb, weak, dizzy, vertigo , headaches. sigh …. anyway here are my recent MRI results I was hoping you could take a look so that I could be a bit more knowledgeabe when I talk with my NEW doctor who I dont know and it makes me nervous… thank you so much in advance … there were two done on the same day. here they are

EXAM: Cervical spine CT without contrast.

CLINICAL HISTORY: Back pain.

COMPARISON: None.

TECHNIQUE: Contiguous axial images were obtained with subsequent generation of
two-dimensional coronally and sagittally reformatted images.

FINDINGS:

Evidence for prior anterior cervical discectomy and fusion from C4 through C7
with presumed bone graft material projecting from C4 through C6, as well as an
additional area of presumed bone graft in the region of the superior endplate
of C7. Lateral masses of C1 are symmetric. Anterior atlantodental interval
appears preserved. Minimal grade 1 anterolisthesis at C2-3. No evidence of
hardware fracture or hardware loosening. Vertebral body heights appear
maintained. Straightening of normal lordosis. No acute fracture identified.

C2-3: Facet and uncovertebral arthropathy causes at least moderate right
neural foraminal stenosis.

C3-4: Facet and uncovertebral arthropathy causes severe left and mild right
neural foraminal stenosis.

C4-5 through C7-T1: No significant osseous neural foraminal narrowing.

Central spinal canal is better demonstrated on dedicated MRI done the same
date.

IMPRESSION:

1. Osseous neural foraminal narrowing at C2-3 and C3-4, described above.

2. Postoperative changes from C4 through C7.

3. Please refer to cervical spine MRI report from the same date four
additional findings and better assessment of the central spinal canal.

and the second one :
XAM: MRI of the cervical spine without contrast.

CLINICAL HISTORY: Back pain.

COMPARISON: CT on the same date.

TECHNIQUE: Sagittal/axial T2 weighted, sagittal T1-weighted, sagittal STIR,
and axial gradient echo T2* sequences.

FINDINGS:

Vertebral body heights and alignment appear maintained. No intrinsic spinal
cord lesions identified.

C2-C3: Posterior disc osteophyte complex with facet and uncovertebral
arthropathy causing severe right neural foraminal stenosis.

C3-C4: Posterior disc osteophyte complex with facet and uncovertebral
arthropathy causing severe bilateral neural foraminal stenosis and mild
central canal stenosis.

C4-C5: No significant stenosis.

C5-C6: Asymmetric left uncovertebral arthropathy causing mild left neural
foraminal narrowing.

C6-C7: Posterior osteophytes, eccentric to the right, causing ventral thecal
sac effacement.

C7-T1: Asymmetric left facet and uncovertebral arthropathy causing mild left
neural foraminal stenosis.

IMPRESSION:

1. Postoperative and degenerative changes, described above. Assessment for
infection is limited without IV contrast. Please refer to cervical spine CT
report from the same date.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

January 13, 2015 at 10:00 pm

Post count: 8660

#12018

I am confused regarding your prior surgical history. You note a prior C3-7 ACDF (fusion) but the radiological report notes “Postoperative changes from C4 through C7”. Are you mistaken regarding your prior surgical history?

Your symptoms of “neck in pain 24/7 numb, weak, dizzy, vertigo , headaches” could be related to cervical degenerative facet disease (“Minimal grade 1 anterolisthesis at C2-3” and “C2-3: Facet and uncovertebral arthropathy causes at least moderate right
neural foraminal stenosis; C3-4: Facet and uncovertebral arthropathy causes severe left and mild right neural foraminal stenosis”).

You might consider facet blocks (see website) to understand how these injections might give diagnostic relief (see pain diary) and possible therapeutic results (see rhizotomy).

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.

trueblue9
Member

January 13, 2015 at 10:53 pm

Post count: 3

#12020

Thank you and yes I was mistaken and should have said c4-c7
Do you think I will be able to avoid more surgery?

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

January 13, 2015 at 11:43 pm

Post count: 8660

#12022

Hard to know at this point. Hopefully, if you are a candidate for facet blocks and they give you relief, you should be able to use these long term or have good results with a rhizotomy.

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.

trueblue9
Member

January 14, 2015 at 2:06 am

Post count: 3

#12027

Thank you again for your time and help. This really scares me. injections scare me in my neck. I am completey dibilitated and unable to carry on a normal life . I had a neuro in boston that did both my surgeries and then I moved to Michigan and have a new ortho… It scares me to have a new doctor. I also need injections in my S1 as it is herniated too. I am only 55 … should I be going to a Neuro for my neck or is an Ortho fine? I have so much anxiety .
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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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Still in pain after all these years… feeling a bit blue