I don't know either of your situations, but one thing I can say for sure is that the procedure you have will often depend on which doctor you see. When I was searching for a neurosurgeon in 2006, I had no idea what was needed, so I got the original doctor's opinion and then took my MRI and CT scans to 3 other physicians for opinions. Much to my dismay, no one agreed on a single procedure to "fix" me. The first one suggested a laminectomy from C3 through C7, the second said a 5 level laminectomy was too risky from the standpoint of stability over time and suggested a laminoplasty (leaving lamina intact, but opening each level to provide more space).....the next doctor said I needed both a posterior AND an anterior procedure done and the last doctor said a fusion. I came to the conclusion that I needed to do my own research on which procedures tend to be most successful, since I only have one back and I didn't want to be in surgery every year. I think that each surgeon seems to have a "favorite" procedure and one that they've used and applied to most every case they have.
I immediately decided against fusion because one physician said that it tends to put undue pressure on the levels above and below where you're fused - sometimes resulting in the need for more future surgery at THOSE levels. (I think that I've seen some posts on this site that bear out that point.) I eventually decided to go with the laminoplasty for my situation, though I know it's not a "one size fits all" thing. I just can't emphasize enough that when you're contemplating surgery on your spine, you should at the very least get two opinions before making a decision on what is best for YOU. The other thing I would suggest is that if you're seeing a spine specialist that happens to be an orthopedic surgeon, get your second opinion from a neurosurgeon. They are closely aligned specialties, but while orthopods do spine surgeries, neurosurgeons deal exclusively with the brain, nerves and spinal cord....and they may have a different viewpoint on what you need. At the very least, if they confirm that a fusion is needed, you will feel better about having made the right decision. Hope this helps! Jo
hi, i have had a two level fusion, two years ago, now they want to do a third! not sure what to tell you, but have you had a nerve conduction test to see how much permanent nerve damage you have? mine is pretty bad, so even after the 1st fusion, i was in pain...last january my "new" dr. removed that hardware and i noticed that 3 months later i had a totally different pain..did an mri and discovered that the L3_L4 had herniated ...they want to go in and fix that , b/c my nerve pain this time is down the back of my butt and both legs all the way down.
recovery was not as bad as i had expected...mind you 1 fusion..was up after the 1st week trying to vaccuum and clean up the house (ocd, i guess!) it does get better everyday, but a 3 level is pretty intense. some of the nerves will probably be completly damaged and never regenarte (my case), hopefully you have had a nerve conduction test to see just how bad the damage is now....
sorry i couldn't help any more, but it might help, it might not...thats what the drs. say! arrgghh!
nan2687