Anyone- please help.

I woke up one morning with an inability to sit stand or kneel. Assuming that  had a severely strained back, I stayed in bed for 10 days and was reduced to crawling and laying on my stomach the entire time. After no relief from the excruciating pain I went to the emergency room where a ct was done.  I was told that everything was normal and I had severely pulled muscles and was given morphine, I was also told to go to physiotherapy.

Prior to the above symptoms I had notice some mild incontinence for about 4 months( still have it although milder) and had a great deal of pain in my right shoulder which has not bothered me since laminectomy.

I went to physio once and came back even worse.

After another 6 weeks of crawling on my stomach, the ENT surgeon I worked for made an appointment with the head of neurosurgery at the same  hospital. I crawled in there on my hands and knees. He reviewed the previous ct for less than 10 seconds and admitted me for surgery.

I had a laminectomy and the day afterward could stand and even walk.

I had the surgery on July 4, 2009

I have symptoms of electric shock occasionally, tingling in right foot on occasion , occasional tripping over my own feet, constant burning and stinging in my back and hips,the feeling of two large knives stuck in my sides constantly, cannot sit, stand, for any length of time.

The thing that worries me the most is that for the past 5 weeks my lower leg calf muscles are swollen and rock hard making it difficult to walk.


I am wondering if I could possibly have this.

Do you think that I may have this? Is it Chronic? Progressive?

[Sara Khan]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with your doctor.

Without the ability to examine you and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of your symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

I am having some difficulty understanding your question. You are asking " if you could possibly have this", and I can't figure out what specific condition you are worried about.

The fact that your strength improved significantly after the laminectomy, points towards the fact that you probably had compression of your spinal cord/ nerves, which was relieved with surgery. However you have remanent symptoms now. This is most likely what we call "post laminectomy syndrome" or "failed back syndrome". The post laminectomy syndrome refers to chronic back and/or leg pain that occurs after back (spinal) surgery. Multiple factors can contribute to its onset and development . Contributing factors include but are not limited to residual or recurrent disc herniation, persistent post-operative pressure on a spinal nerve, altered joint mobility, scar tissue (fibrosis), depression, anxiety, sleeplessness and muscle deconditioning. People who have diabetes or a history of smoking have a higher incidence of this because of poor healing.

Common symptoms associated with post laminectomy syndrome include diffuse, dull and aching pain involving the back and/or legs. Abnormal sensibility may include sharp, pricking, and stabbing pain in the legs.

It would be best to be reevaluated by a neurosurgeon, to make sure that there is not persistent compression of your spinal nerves. The best way to evaluate for that would be with a MRI ( if you do not have any metallic hardware in your body).Post- laminectomy syndrome is usually treated conservatively. The first step is aggressive physiotherapy. Medications such as regular non-steroidal antiinflammatory ( e.g Ibuprofen) drugs can be used. There are a lot of other options for pain management including local epidural pain injections, which serve to calm down the nerves where they are being irritated right as they are coming out of the spinal cord.  This would be a multistep process, and usually no one thing will completely take away the pain.One has to use a combination of physiotherapy and pain control.

I am a little concerned about the last thing you mentioned, about your calf muscles being "rock hard". In the setting of a recent surgery, and probably a long duration of immobility, I would be concerned about blood clots forming in your leg veins, which can produce pain, swelling and difficulty walking. Blood clots can be formed in any scenario where there is prolonged lack of movement e.g long plane or car rides, post surgery. I would recommend that you see you primary care physician so they can evaluate you and order the appropriate testing, which in this case would be an ultrasound of your legs. However this wouldn't hold true if you have been walking about significantly, since your surgery was a while back.

I hope this helps. Good luck!