Page 5 » Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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salve97
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March 27, 2012 at 3:05 am

Post count: 32

in reply to: Recent Diagnosed Bilateral Pars Fracture with Pain #5862

Thank you very much for all the info as I am much more educated with this Issue regarding the Pars Defect. Now I know what to do and what road I will need to go on if this does not get any better withing the next month or 2 with the conservative methods. I have a few more questions now. Is there a test to even find out if my pain is coming from the pars to show that they are symtommatic or active? As I might have mentioned I’m going april 4th for an injection at the L3 level with just Local Numbing Lidocaine i think. So if this makes my pain go away then we might have found the answer. But I don’t see how this will make my calf pain go away. What other tests will they do before we decide on surgury? Also I have a strong Local Union as my time out of work can go up to 18 months. Ive used up 4 for “conservative” methods so I will probably have to make a decision within the next few months. I’ve heard of a discogram for testing to see if it is disc?? Will theyy try that on me. I just don’t want to Piss off Workmans Comp as they have been quite silent with me up to this point? I’m also thinking of taking a trip to Colorodo soon for a 2nd opionion if I don’t get answers soon from the docs out here.

salve97
Member

March 26, 2012 at 7:03 am

Post count: 32

in reply to: Recent Diagnosed Bilateral Pars Fracture with Pain #5857

Sorry if this is redundent!! I’m not sure my last post actually posted or went thru. It’s been 3 weeks since my new theorpy started and I’m seeing a little releave from pain (very little , day to day) I have my next appointment with the Nearosurgon in 6 weeks. If there is not a considerable amount of improvement do you think it is time to start talkiing surgury (fusion). I really want to put this to bed and get on with my life. according to your site 6 months is the recoop time. Does that mean that I can run into burning buildings at six months or just be comfortable living again ???? I’m in constant pain 24/7 and I think the pain clinic only injected facets and epidural and I think only at L5. would it be wise to get a bilateral injection at the pars at l3 considering that is where the break is. But I have calf pain also that is unbearable and the pain guy says the injection should be lower??? I wish I could go to your clinic to talk to you face to face. The infoo in the last 2 days is clearing up soo much about this condition.!!!

salve97
Member

March 26, 2012 at 6:32 am

Post count: 32

in reply to: Recent Diagnosed Bilateral Pars Fracture with Pain #5855

Thank you for all your insight with this matter. Your web site is THE MOST HELP I have received since this injury. Considering I just started the right PT without extention for the past 3 weeks. and according to all 3 MRI and CT scan everything is alligned and no slippage I just have the pars defect. My next appointment with the Neaurosurgon is in 6 weeks, if im still in the same amount of pain would you think it is time for surgury. And with your experience what would be the expected outcome considering that I have less than 1 (accordig to one MRI) grade spondy. I just don’t want to waste anymore time and just go under the knife and put this to bed. I have to go back saving lives if you know what I mean. YOu said that the Pars never heal but the Pannus is sort of healing right? It is bone, scar tissue and cartilage. Is that why the ct scan didn’t pick it up and the fracture is so obviouis in the CT scan you saw???

salve97
Member

March 26, 2012 at 4:25 am

Post count: 32

in reply to: Recent Diagnosed Bilateral Pars Fracture with Pain #5853

Sony what they mean by conservative treatment is waiting for the pannus to heal. Or am I too old for it to heal? I’m so confused? Is it possible that I had just one side break when I was a kid and now the other side broke? I did pull a back muscle playing football when I was in high school bot it was on the right side . Now my pain is on both sides!

salve97
Member

March 26, 2012 at 1:52 am

Post count: 32

in reply to: Recent Diagnosed Bilateral Pars Fracture with Pain #5848

Thank you for the information. One more question.. If this did happen to be from a trama injury in which I think it was because of the initial pain from the heavy lift that causesed this and I never had pain before. If I keep on persuing the Bone doc to order a real “Bone Scan” would that show if this was an old or new injury and help with my treatment? i posted a pic of the CT scan on your facebook page. Looking at the obvisos fracture can you tell if that is old or new?

salve97
Member

March 25, 2012 at 6:31 am

Post count: 32

in reply to: Recent Diagnosed Bilateral Pars Fracture with Pain #5846

is there an email address that I send you a quick pick of my CT scan ? and yes I did get a bone desity scan and it said no fracture. Not a bone scan. Why he had me do that I don’t know. I’m seeing a doc in the Mass General Spine Clinic and a Neauro In Providence RI. Initially they thought it was a disc bulge causing pain until we got the ct scan and that showed the pars fracture. So The PT and Injections were focased on that diagnosis. My Pt had me doing alot of extention excersises which brought on the leg pain so I stopped that treatment. . I just started (3 weeks now) a new pt person and we are doing alot of core excersises the pain is now not as bad and actually getting better.. Do you think that this might help or is it too late because the injuy occured 10/18?
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Viewing 6 posts - 25 through 30 (of 31 total)

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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.

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salve97

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