Arachnoiditis

[diana123]

I had two level lumbar fusion surgery 2 1/2 yrs ago, one of the screws was put in wrong and had a second surgery the next day, I ended up with Arachnoiditis and cauda equina syndrome.  The surgeon who did my surgery refsed to admit any wrong doing or to even help me.
My question to you is, are there any treatments, ie surgeries for these disorders available.  I have searched and searched to no avail...., I am told the only treatment is to manage with pain meds, which now I cannot even find a pain doctor willing to treat me let alone see me.
I am just at my witts end, and very,very depressed, I have lost total quality of life, I just turned 51 and I feel as though my life is over.
I have had a Myelogram to diagnose Arachnoiditis.
What can I do???

[PaulMD]

Hi.

I'm sorry to learn that you are experiencing all of these.  Arachnoiditis is commonly transient in occurrence and is really a common complication of spine and brain surgeries.  This is due to some form of irritation to the covering of the spinal cord which can be due to the procedures concerning the surgery itself.  The persistence of this, however, signifies an ongoing injury to the arachnoid envelope which can be due to both mechanical or non-mechanical mechanisms (mechanical: like ongoing compression on the ares, non-mechanical: like antibody reactions from foreign bodies).  Addressing the depression can also help, as stress and worry can heighten the sensation of pain.  

I hope that when you get to meet your doctor, you can discuss all of these possibilities.  Regards and God bless.