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Neurology (Expert Forum)
Coccyxdynia
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Coccyxdynia
by MPD, Nov 24, 2004 12:00AM
My wife (55yo) has been suffering with Coccyxdynia (tailbone pain) for over a year. Coccyx is hypermobile. Cause is not none but no fracture noted. She has had injections and some gave her short term relief but she is still suffering greatly from this. She cannot drive any distance or sit for a movie so it is really affecting her life. She has also suffered a severe depression due to this. Additionally she has some parathesia in one leg and numbness in one foot from this.
Some recent outcome studies show that surgery to remove coccyx has been successful when all else fails. What is the Cleveland Clinic's experience with this surgery?
What diagnostic tests would you recommend? (She has had MRI,EMG (?) and bone scan with negative results)
Who would do the surgery--an orthopedic doc or neurosurgeon?
Could the parathesia and numbness be associated with the coccyx?
I would appreciate any insights you could bring to this issue as we try to decide if surgery is next. She wants her life back.
Thank you.
Some recent outcome studies show that surgery to remove coccyx has been successful when all else fails. What is the Cleveland Clinic's experience with this surgery?
What diagnostic tests would you recommend? (She has had MRI,EMG (?) and bone scan with negative results)
Who would do the surgery--an orthopedic doc or neurosurgeon?
Could the parathesia and numbness be associated with the coccyx?
I would appreciate any insights you could bring to this issue as we try to decide if surgery is next. She wants her life back.
Thank you.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-Neuro-M.D.-CS, Dec 01, 2004 12:00AM
Sorry for the delay I had no experience with this, and wanted to ask one of our spine surgeons. We use surgery as a last resort, and have no published series on our outcomes. The majority of patients with coccyxdynia are treated by one of our pain specialists, Michael Stanton-Hicks, MD. He evaluated patients and recommends either medical or surgical therapy depending on the case. A spine surgeon would perform the surgery, either an orthopaedic or neurosurgeon. Numbness in the foot would not be explained by the coccyx. A MRI of the lumar and sacral regions would be useful to document any injury to the nerves, and to look for soft tissue inflammation around the coccyx. Good luck.
