Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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Anne2k
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February 20, 2018 at 12:53 pm

Post count: 4

in reply to: Broad-based bulging bulging at T7-8 mildly flattening ventral surface cord #27660

Okay. Thank you. I do have some issues in the lumbar and they think it might be causing the leg symptoms but it’s unchanged from earlier MRIs. This MRI was odd because there was an appearing and disappearing bulge (how it was described to me today) on the films:
——-
L5-S1: The posterior disc margin shows broad-based bulging. Hemilaminotomy
changes are seen with epidural and perineural fibrosis worse on left. Left facet and
right facet have been partially resected. Nerve root canals do not appears significantly
narrowed on the right and mildly narrow on the left. Sagittal images suggest a small
disc protrusion which is not definitely confirmed on axial images. No nerve root
flattening or deformity is apparent

Prior imaging is available for comparison 2015. Upper lumbar levels are
unremarkable with prior study. L5-S1 showed the very similar appearance broad-based
bulging with question small supervised disc protrusion. Hemilaminotomy changes are
present on the prior study with epidural and perineural fibrosis worse on left.

1. Prior surgery L5-S1 with epidural fibrosis bilateral laminotomies and partial
facetectomy
2. Broad-based bulging question small residual recurrent disc protrusion unchanged
since prior study without any nerve root flattening or deformity
3. Upper lumbar levels are unremarkable

———
Can they do thoracic surgery without the dangerous work through the chest cavity? It’s been described to me that they don’t do that unless you’ve lost bowl control because the risks are too high.

Anne2k
Participant

February 19, 2018 at 8:46 pm

Post count: 4

in reply to: Broad-based bulging bulging at T7-8 mildly flattening ventral surface cord #27658

Oh, and my legs get numb or randomly hurt. I completely lost feeling in the last couple of toes on my right foot a week ago so that’s what triggered them to check the lumbar this time too. I’ve had the sensation of water running down the back of my legs and the feeling of sprained ankles (especially right sided). I get numbness bi-laterally on the inside of my thighs. No weakness in the last nine months or so.

Anne2k
Participant

February 19, 2018 at 8:28 pm

Post count: 4

in reply to: Broad-based bulging bulging at T7-8 mildly flattening ventral surface cord #27657

Yes, I’m sorry I should have described this better but I was trying to be brief. I really appreciate your time.

In 2015, I experienced a sudden onset of mid back pain (it felt like something was stuck in me at the bra line) that radiated everywhere like electrical shocks on the day it began. I was taken to the ER and I had full spine MRIs both with and without contrast. After the first couple of days it calmed down and settled to primarily pain around my rib cage. The results of those MRIs showed the earlier lumbar issue, a mildly protruding disc at T7-8 and a tiny protrusion at T8-9 on the right side. My cervical spine looked fantastic.

Since that time, I’ve had moderate ongoing pain around the ribs at the bra line. It’s been worse on the right side. It’s been fairly well controlled with ESI every 5-6 months. It typically rates 1-2 in the morning, and ramps up to maybe 5-6 by the end of the night.

I started having an increase in pain around that zone in December of 2017 that left me in bed for the last few days of my vacation. I received another ESI at T7-8 mid January.

About two weeks ago my pain started getting steadily worse and within a few days it was really awful. My pain meaning that same spot mid back. It feels like there is a knife in that spot. I don’t know how else to describe it. The pain wrapping around my chest wall is what I would imagine a heart attack feels like and it hurts when I breathe deeply, laugh, or speak forcefully. When the sharpest pain triggers (dull aches and pain is constant, but the sharp pain is triggered by any number of various movements) it causes a painful spasm around my chest and into the right arm but doesn’t travel down the arm. It’s primarily shoulder and back upper portion of the arm. It also for brief seconds, it shoots in to my head like a stabbing pain but those both ease off as quickly as soon the sharp pain mid back does.

I’m active, 42, fit, and I have a really high pain tolerance. I was an ultra runner in 2015 and I’ve given birth without pain meds if that helps put into perspective my ability to push through discomforts. Ever since this episode, I have spent every night in bed and every day at work gasping around the office. I ice constantly and it helps a little but heat seems to make it worse. I wake up in 5-6 pain and go to bed at 8-9 (9 being, I’m not sure if I’m going to throw up or pass out from the pain). I’ve cried myself to sleep a lot lately.

The current MRI done yesterday on the thoracic shows mild scoliosis and kyphosis, which wasn’t there a year ago. I suspect it’s from guarding because movement in that area can produce significantly painful results.

I get a lot of shrugs about all of this and I was hoping that maybe you had experience with thoracic stuff and could help figure out what the heck is going on.
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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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Anne2k

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