thomas Italy - L4-L5,L5-S1, D12-L1, C4-C5-C6-C7 ernias and spondilosis

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thomasvenice
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November 27, 2014 at 8:05 pm

Post count: 23

#11787

hello dear Doctor, you are correct and I’ve always said. the best job is TLIFT. last week I have stabilized L4-L5 and L5-S1 decompressor treated, but I still continue to sciatic pain in both legs as before.
mine is a nightmare. doctor must to stabilize L4-L5-S1 instead but I woke up with only 4 screws instead of 6 and now I badly as before. even if it’s only 1 week did not feel the pain of the operation, but those nerves of the leg like fire and electricity … I.m desperate …

thomasvenice
Member

November 28, 2014 at 10:32 pm

Post count: 23

#11789

I cry all the day because I hoped it was the last trip to the back, then move to the back and neck. I can not do anything more in my life and the doctors in Italy do not treat me know. they do spend years and do not respond. I spent all that my family had to look for a doctor who would operate neck back and back in 3 times. but nobody wants to do .. doctor I can not come in america .. I wish that you was operating because if I wait I still can not live like this .. I have 33 years and 12 are at home waiting for a career as a musician now .. failed..non work I can not even stand straight up and wash ..

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

November 30, 2014 at 5:38 am

Post count: 8660

#11796

I am concerned about your surgery. Using only 4 screws instead of six for a two level fusion means that they either tried to save on the costs of hardware or were incapable of inserting screws into one of the three vertebra.

The fact that your leg pain has not resolved could mean that the nerve was not decompressed, something inadvertent had occurred in surgery or that your nerves were damaged beyond repair and surgery would not have helped these nerve in the first place.

A new MRI would be appropriate to assess the current state of your nerves.

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.

thomasvenice
Member

November 30, 2014 at 4:30 pm

Post count: 23

#11802

hi dear doctor, I may have misspelled in English ..
the doctors have decided to block only L4-L5 because the difficulty in all these years was just to understand what the MRI unleashed all my sorrows.
Doctors claim that block only L4-L5 was sufficient, and to use the decompressor (Aug motorized) to decompress a bit L5-S1.
The doctors say they also block L5-S1 for me being tall, I have lost all the muscle mass (due to herniated lumbar and cervical do nothing of 4 years) would be risky because of the pain may come to the sacrum, a L3 and pelvis stretch thigh.
I am now 10 days after surgery, and pain for the cuts do not have nearly the most, I get up from the bed well, without difficulty ‘post-operative, but 24/24 left leg hurts me as if he had the nerve current and fire , the femoral stretch, calf and ankle, I think just a symptom of a problem of L5-S1.
doctors have inserted the screws percutaneously, without looking into this and I think the fundamental error ..
they say that if I want to risk also block L5-S1.
I asked that on 17 December, (date available) make me a nice cut from L4 to S1 to see in his eyes what is: if they have to remove the disk, if they stabilize or if there ‘nothing on the nerves I close, and remain ‘so ..
Doctors also say that if I block L5-S1 risk aches for my curve a little back of the lumbar and say that risk more pain because of the attachment.
I’m really desperate ..
thanks doctor of his time and send you a hug.
I wish I was operating you …

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

November 30, 2014 at 8:51 pm

Post count: 8660

#11804

With continued leg pain after surgery, it is my opinion that the surgeons need to look for potential causes of nerve compression. That might include a new MRI or CT scan. Do you have pain that is new to you? That is, in a different leg or a different area of the same leg? Is the intensity of the pain different?

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.

thomasvenice
Member

November 30, 2014 at 9:26 pm

Post count: 23

#11807

hello doctor, it seems to me that the pain is similar to the first, on the same areas of the femoral, calf and foot. the intensity ‘slightly different,: first was a pain gloomy, now seems like a burning .. do short resonance then. thank you so much she is super! how I wish that I was operating ..
can ‘my problem to the nerves of the legs be caused by serious problems of hernias c4-c5-c6-c7? I should also be operated in the neck because I can not resist more I can not do anything but cry only despair because I no longer have any money, I do not work for years, I have lost everything because of these Italian doctors who demanded only money instead of keeping me in hospital to treat myself ..
I’m 33 years old, 12 are placed so bad, and I have a career as a musician now bankrupt ..
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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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thomas Italy – L4-L5,L5-S1, D12-L1, C4-C5-C6-C7 ernias and spondilosis