Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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CowboysFan
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June 11, 2014 at 12:35 am

Post count: 19

in reply to: 2 Years Post 2 Level ACDF With New Type of Pain #11020

Dr Corenman,

I have a couple of questions for you, if you do not mind:

(1) I have consulted with a neurosurgeon who believes that it is very possible that my neck pain and headaches are being caused by a “micro” instability at the C5-C7 levels. His suggestion is to have the have those 2 levels fused posteriorly, in order to stop that “micro” movement.

I have a non fusion at C5-C6 and a PEEK cage was used at both levels. The plate and screws look good in all my imaging. It has been a while since I looked at any of my MRI reports, but I recall having a lot of foraminal stenosis at those two levels.

Is it possible that I could have a “micro” instability at either or both levels, just enough that the C6 and C7 nerves could be getting bumped around and generate pain?

(2) What is the incidence rate of a patient being allergic to the materials that were used in an ACDF, like the titanium plate and screws, the PEEK cage and the bone material used in the cage? Could such an allergy be the cause of a non-fusion or possibly be causing a inflammatory response that could be the cause of my neck pain and headaches?

After the discectomy was performed, plastic disc spacers were inserted that contained putty-like bone material. I believe that those disc spacers are called PEEK cages, but please correct me if I am wrong about the terminology.

Thank you in advance

CowboysFan
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June 11, 2014 at 12:11 am

Post count: 19

in reply to: 2 Years Post 2 Level ACDF With New Type of Pain #11019

My goodness, Andybythesea, I am so sorry to hear that you have went through all of that. I hope that while you continue to look for answers that you consult with a pain management physician, if you have not done so. The level of pain that you are suffering can be very difficult to deal with emotionally and physically.

Just to be clear, my shoulder (clavicle, upper arm, etc.) pain was actually being caused by severe arthritis in the acromioclavicular (AC) joint in my left shoulder and was not related to the non-fusion in my neck. That shoulder pain has been completely resolved since I had the arthroscopic surgery done on the AC joint, where part of the back end of my clavicle was removed along with the bone spurs in the joint.

I shared the results of the MRI imaging on my shoulder (before I had the shoulder surgery) with Dr. Corenman and his comments were invaluable. He pointed out that I had severe arthritis in the joint and that I needed to see an orthopedic surgeon. I found an orthopedic shoulder surgeon to see, but that surgeon actually felt that I did not have much arthritis in the joint and had me try many different treatments and felt that my neck was causing the problem, even though the pain was only generated by moving my arm and shoulder in certain ways.

Keeping in mind Dr. Corenman’s comments about the severity of the arthritis, I decided to seek out another opinion from one of the best orthopedic surgeons in my area. Within 5 minutes of looking at my MRI images and performing a physical test on my arm and shoulder, this surgeon suggested that surgery was the only option and that my neck had nothing to do with it at all.

My issues since my C5-C7 ACDF surgery have been daily headaches and neck pain, stiff neck muscles and occasional muscle spasms in my neck. There is a direct relationship between my activity level and my pain level, the more active I am, the more pain I have.

CowboysFan
Member

June 4, 2014 at 11:50 am

Post count: 19

in reply to: 2 Years Post 2 Level ACDF With New Type of Pain #10950

Hi Tammy,

Which symptoms are you having, the neck pain and headache symptoms or the shoulder symptoms?

The shoulder symptoms led me to have arthroscopic surgery on the AC joint in my left shoulder in 2013. The surgery was called a distal clavicle excision and debridement, where bone spurs in that joint were shaved off and where close to 1/2 an inch of the back end of my collarbone was taken off in order to create more room in that joint. I went through 2 months of physical therapy after the surgery and I have had no pain at all since February and can do almost everything that I used to do before the shoulder started giving me problems. I found a top notch orthopedic surgeon in my area and have been thrilled with the outcome.

I have meant to stop by and update the community, but life has kept me quite busy.

If you are talking about the neck pain and headaches, I have tried everything humanly possible and nothing has helped. I am planning on having my prior neck surgery re-done in the next few months, I won’t know the date until I see the surgeon in a month. The first surgery was an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion and plate fixation, so the re-do will be a posterior fusion, where the surgeon will go through the back of my neck. The post-surgery recovery will be longer, as the muscles in the back of the neck are cut during surgery, so I will have to wear a neck brace for a couple of months.

CowboysFan
Member

August 22, 2013 at 10:15 am

Post count: 19

in reply to: 2 Years Post 2 Level ACDF With New Type of Pain #9262

Thanks, Dr. Corenman, very much appreciated. I will contact your office tomorrow.

CowboysFan
Member

August 20, 2013 at 1:23 am

Post count: 19

in reply to: 2 Years Post 2 Level ACDF With New Type of Pain #9248

Dr. Corenman,

Could you suggest a specific person at Dr. Millett’s office whom I should talk to in order to get my info and films in front of him? I called his office about a week and half ago and I eventually left a message with one of his assistants (Sue?), but I have not heard from anyone just yet. The receptionist I talked to seemed confused by my request, as I suspect that they do not get requests like mine very often.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Michael

CowboysFan
Member

August 8, 2013 at 3:12 am

Post count: 19

in reply to: 2 Years Post 2 Level ACDF With New Type of Pain #9158

Dr. Corenman, thank you so much for your insight and comments in regards to my left shoulder. It sounds like what is going on in my left AC joint is more severe than what I believed after my visit with the orthopedic shoulder surgeon here.

I will most definitely contact Dr. Millet’s office to arrange sending him my images for further discussion.
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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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