Your initial surgery results for what I assume was a degenerative spondylolisthesis was good as should be expected most of the time. Now, some years later you have developed painful buttocks symptoms radiating down to the feet. You also note motor weakness. You state that the MRI and CT scans don’t demonstrate what is causing your symptoms.
Some questions. Are your pain symptoms equal in both legs or is one leg much worse than the other? Where is your weakness? Did a formal physical examination demonstrate any specific muscle weakness? For example, was there weakness of your quadriceps muscles (front of the thigh muscles) that made your stair climbing ability poor? Is your pain worse with standing and walking or with sitting? Have your bowel and bladder habits changed? Is your balance worse? Do you have problems with your hand coordination now?
What did your studies reveal? Did you have standing X-rays including flexion and extension views?
There are many unanswered questions that when answered can possibly point to the correct diagnosis.
Dr. Corenman
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.