Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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Johan_Mikil07
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May 5, 2013 at 12:15 am

Post count: 4

in reply to: Scar Tissue Causing Pain? #8592

I would say that my leg weakness, leg radiating even though it is now mainly down the right side of my leg instead of the top of my leg, and pain has returned to about the same as it was before the surgery. Since I did not have that radiating pain down the right side of my leg from the hip to the ankle and across the top of my foot after the accident and disc herniation, I would say it is new. The numbness in my right shin has never gone away since the accident. Overall, the weakness and pain in general in my right leg is the same as it was prior to the surgery. I can’t figure it out because when I woke up from the surgery, it was significantly better My lower back pain hurts, but is not as bad as when I had the herniation … I don’t think any pain in my lower back could be that bad and hopefully will never be again. My neurosurgeon says my MRI does not show anything other than significant scar tissue.

Johan_Mikil07
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May 4, 2013 at 11:46 pm

Post count: 4

in reply to: Scar Tissue Causing Pain? #8590

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your response. My neurosurgeon ran blood work and MRI right away looking for infection and there was no sign or symptoms of infection. I am more than willing to try anything including epidural injections. I just want the pain to be gone and to not come back in a couple months when the injection wears off. In terms of instability, do you mean weakness in my right leg and right foot? Or instability in the area of the original surgery and the scar tissue? I have significant weakness in my right leg to the point it is difficult to maintain my balance and walk. I also have what my neurosurgeon calls “episodic” radiating pain in other parts of my right leg and my inner groin on the right side.

Johan_Mikil07
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May 4, 2013 at 10:36 pm

Post count: 4

in reply to: Scar Tissue Causing Pain? #8586

I hate to say it, but I don’t know exactly what kind of operation that I had. It lasted six hours in the operating room; and I was upside down; the incision was in my lower back. My neurosurgeon who is really great and highly respected in our area said I had a massive disc herniation at the L4-5. The surgery took place on February 8. It immediately, but now seems temporarily, resolved the pain and numbness in my lower lower back and right leg except for my shin. Last Friday, I began having significant lower back pain and radiating pain in my right butt, right hip, right side of my right leg down to my right ankle where it spreads out over the top of my foot. I went to the Emergency Room because the pain was becoming unbearable, my neurosurgeon did another MRI and he said there was no re-herniation, but he saw significant scar tissue. He put me on an oral steroid — Presdezone? — for one week with pain medication, but it has made no difference. He said if that did not help, which so far it has not, the next step would be to do a steroid injection. He said if that did not work, he would have to do another operation, but he said he did not want to do that and it would be a very complicated surgery. Can I get more than one steroid injection to cover the entire area from the L4 to the S1? And will the steroid injection remove the scar tissue that is causing the pain? I am being as positive and optimistic that I can because I absolutely do not want to have another operation, but everything that I have read has said that steroid injections provide temporary relief? How can I find someone to look at my MRI results and give me a step by step explanation of what it means?
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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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Johan_Mikil07

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