Donald Corenman MD DC | Spine Surgeon Colorado

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seb_nied
Participant

July 28, 2021 at 7:26 am

Post count: 24

in reply to: Recurrent herniation and DDD at L5-S1 #34221

Thanks for the answer Doctor.

How much do you think a successful TLIF depends on the surgeon ability?

In my country we have public healthcare but unfortunately the best surgeors are not working in public hospitals. I have a very good surgeon who proposed me a TLIF but this would involve having the surgery privately.
The option I got from the public provider is a microdiscetomy and then an ALIF if the MD fails again.
The main concern I have is that a MD will just create more scar tissue and nerve inflammation and eventually lead to chronic nerve pain even after an eventual fusion. This makes me wonder if I should even “bother” trying the microdiscectomy because the chances of having the fusion afterwards are anyway quite high as I do not have much of the disc left and the nerve was severely compressed from the first herniation.

seb_nied
Participant

May 5, 2021 at 4:27 am

Post count: 24

in reply to: Disc reherniation confirmed by MRI… surgeon and pain mgt don’t sound hopeful. #34037

Hi Frank,
dont’t know if you are still following this post but I thought I will ask you how you are after these several months.
I’ve been doing better with the leg pain since the reherniation but since I have started doing some more PT and exercises my back pain started to ramp up.
I wonder if back pain was also bothering you after reherniation.
Hope you are doing well overall and you are close to 100% now!
Cheers,
Sebastian

seb_nied
Participant

April 29, 2021 at 8:56 am

Post count: 24

in reply to: buttock nerve pain post microdiscectomy #34017

Hello again Doctor,
Just an update on my situation.
I opted for not having the revision microdiscectomy in the end, as during the last month and especially during the last few weeks my leg symptoms have improved significantly.
The leg discomfort is still there but not so bothering anymore.
What is causing me issues since the last week is some increased back pain mostly localized on my multifidus muscle (both sides on the upper lumbar area) and centrally on the lower lumbar area (probably on the L5-S1 disk). This is coming up with prolonged sitting and standing and I think has increased as I started doing more sport activity since the last few weeks. Activity like physio and short walking usually releaves the pain as long as it’s not too much.
When I say sport activity I limit myself to a 1-hour bike ride every second day and physio exercises mostly everyday.
I also noticed some occasional strange feeling on my non operated side around the hip and buttock. Nothing extreme nor bothering for now, just coming and going once every one or two days.
So here I am, planning to give some time to my body to settle down until June and based on my symptoms decide what to do.
My doctor told me if my back pain persists and continues to be debilitating after few months we may want to try facet joints injections, facet joint denervation and finally consider fusion. If the leg pain will be still the problem then he proposed an endoscopic microdiscectomy.
What do you think Doctor?
Regards,
Sebastian

seb_nied
Participant

April 9, 2021 at 10:42 am

Post count: 24

in reply to: buttock nerve pain post microdiscectomy #33916

Hi George,
how do you feel, any update on your condition?

seb_nied
Participant

April 8, 2021 at 1:03 pm

Post count: 24

in reply to: buttock nerve pain post microdiscectomy #33907

Hello again Doctor,
I was reading about some episodes of epidural fibrosis being sometimes the reason for persistent radicular pain. I was wondering based on my images (blurred area on the nerve root I mentioned during my previous post) and my symptoms if this could also be the case additionally to the reherniation I have.
What’s your opinion on this?
Thanks in advance for your response,
Sebastian

seb_nied
Participant

March 29, 2021 at 11:56 am

Post count: 24

in reply to: buttock nerve pain post microdiscectomy #33830

I will!
Could I also ask you how many revision microdiscectomies do you perform and what is the success rate, comparing to how many end up with having fusion?
Thanks,
Sebastian
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Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 22 total)

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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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seb_nied

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