Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

Forum Replies Created

Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

Author

Posts
debbiearseneault
Member

October 4, 2012 at 12:33 am

Post count: 6

in reply to: l5 s1 #7101

hi dr; another question if you don’t mind, why does the cat scan and the mri report differ so greatly? ie the mri does not refer at all to the bone spurs etc. thanks

debbiearseneault
Member

September 28, 2012 at 12:18 am

Post count: 6

in reply to: l5 s1 #7037

hi dr; the back ache is central across the lower back. what should i do now? will the disc heal on its own without intervention? my physio therapist was concerned with the mri report and said i had compression throughout my spine from the mid back to the bottom. she used traction bed on me and i feel an improvement. will the s1 nerve root move back to where it belongs? thanks again for your advice

debbiearseneault
Member

September 22, 2012 at 11:55 pm

Post count: 6

in reply to: l5 s1 #6996

hi dr; i had my mri and it was t1/t2 weighted. report as follows;
t10/11 t11/12 slight disc bulges w/o sign mass effect
at l3/4 slight disc bulge w/o sign mass effect
at l4/5 annular tear present posteriorly associated with slight bulge but there is no focal protrusion
at l5/s1 moderate sized left paramedian disc protrustion deforming and slightly displacing the lest s1 nerve root sleeve posteriorly. the disc margin contacts the right s1 nerve root sleeve as well but does not overtly displace it. facet joints normal. conus is normally positioned and demonstrates normal signal as well. conclusion; left paramedian disc protrustion at l5/s1 w/o extrusion but there is some evidence of impingement on the s1 nerve root sleeve.

my symptoms now are generally pain free from the radicular pain i had in my left buttock and leg. i do however still have contant low back ache, numbness in the left foot/heel and back of left thigh behind the knee. the neuro surgeon i saw said surgery would not fix my symptoms and to continue with exercise, pt and to be very cautious of my back as it would like herniate again. your thoughts and opinion is most appreciated.

debbiearseneault
Member

June 14, 2012 at 2:48 am

Post count: 6

in reply to: l5 s1 #6375

thanks dr; i’ve only had the cat scan, am now waiting for referral to neuro surgeon. the pain initially was left buttock down leg,sometimes as far as the mid calf. pain started in feb and i was almost at 70% healed able to walk for at least 45 min without stabbing throbbing leg pain. then i got on a plane, since may 14 the pain increased dramatically and i went by ambulance to the er. when the pain increased it was more back pain then leg pain, i would say 60 back 40 leg. i was unable to move and after being jostled around the ambulance that’s when my leg went numb. the numbness now is small toe back to heel, backside of calf and halfway up the thigh. i cannot bend over and i can feel the old pain (sciatic type) in my buttock and leg when i sit for a longer time on a harder surface ie chair, carseat. i do not have any loss of motor but some weakness and the numbness. my concern mostly is the narrowing of the spinal canal at the s1 . again thanks for your help, we appreciate it.
Author

Posts

Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Average rating:

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.

Submit your review
First Name, Last Initial:
Email:
Review Title:
Rating:	1 2 3 4 5
Review:

Check this box to confirm you are human.
Submit Cancel

debbiearseneault

Forum Replies Created