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Neurology (Expert Forum)
Re: Disectomy
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Re: Disectomy
by Jim, Jan 09, 2000 12:00AM
Thanks for your advice CCF,
I still have have questions. My doctor told me he took the complete DISC between L5/S1 away. I found from the web that, in many
cases, that is only to be done while in fusion surgery and some sort of "cage or bone" will be implanted in the spline to hold the L5/S1 together. But my doctor only remove the DISC! That it. The L5/S1 is now hanging around. Am I wrong in interpreting the web message? or I did a wrong surgery? I also heard that lumbar fusion is not approiate for my age range (33), is that true?
I am so scare if I was done with something wrong in my spine. My doctor is a neurosurgeon in Hong Kong.
Jim
I am a 33y/o male having prolapsed disc at L5/S1 which caused serve pain in my left leg for about a year. I went through disectomy
on 10/Dec,99 and discharged on 20/Dec,99. My pain gone the third day after the surgery. I enjoyed only 20 days pain-free. But until
4,Jan,2000, when I walk, severe pain (say, degree 10) together with toes numbness comes back in my left calf just like before the
operation I have to stop a while to get relieved and can walk again.My right leg calf sometimes got minor pain (degree 2-3)too.
When I sit/lie down, my left/right toes still suffer numbness and mild pain in thigh and ankle.
My doctor told me he had taken the whole disc out between L5/S1. Rupture disc again should not be the case. The left leg pain is
caused by nerve decompression while it is moving??? But he don't know the cause of my right leg pain and just gave me some pain
killers and told me not to worry.
This makes me very nervous and don't know what to do next.
Should I need another MRI and surgeon again? I can't stand another operation. Is it normal in the recovery process?
Jim
Answered By: CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS on Saturday, January 08, 2000
Dear Jim:
Sorry to hear about your pain. Usually, the rehab is several months but everything depends on the etiology of the disc, the duration
of symptoms before the surgery, the compromise of the nerve before the surgery, the type and extent of surgery, and then the ability
and commitment of the patient undergoing rehab. I would ask both the surgeon and rehab physician and the PT what they think is
going on, they are much more familiar with your case. Yes, pain after surgery is the norm and it is usually intense. However, one
must be sure it is part of the normal healing process and not something new like inflammation. Most patients usually have to live
with some sort of pain for the rest of their lives, sorry to say. I would talk to your physicians and stick to rehab, it will pay off in
the long run.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro MD
Message:
I still have have questions. My doctor told me he took the complete DISC between L5/S1 away. I found from the web that, in many
cases, that is only to be done while in fusion surgery and some sort of "cage or bone" will be implanted in the spline to hold the L5/S1 together. But my doctor only remove the DISC! That it. The L5/S1 is now hanging around. Am I wrong in interpreting the web message? or I did a wrong surgery? I also heard that lumbar fusion is not approiate for my age range (33), is that true?
I am so scare if I was done with something wrong in my spine. My doctor is a neurosurgeon in Hong Kong.
Jim
I am a 33y/o male having prolapsed disc at L5/S1 which caused serve pain in my left leg for about a year. I went through disectomy
on 10/Dec,99 and discharged on 20/Dec,99. My pain gone the third day after the surgery. I enjoyed only 20 days pain-free. But until
4,Jan,2000, when I walk, severe pain (say, degree 10) together with toes numbness comes back in my left calf just like before the
operation I have to stop a while to get relieved and can walk again.My right leg calf sometimes got minor pain (degree 2-3)too.
When I sit/lie down, my left/right toes still suffer numbness and mild pain in thigh and ankle.
My doctor told me he had taken the whole disc out between L5/S1. Rupture disc again should not be the case. The left leg pain is
caused by nerve decompression while it is moving??? But he don't know the cause of my right leg pain and just gave me some pain
killers and told me not to worry.
This makes me very nervous and don't know what to do next.
Should I need another MRI and surgeon again? I can't stand another operation. Is it normal in the recovery process?
Jim
Answered By: CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS on Saturday, January 08, 2000
Dear Jim:
Sorry to hear about your pain. Usually, the rehab is several months but everything depends on the etiology of the disc, the duration
of symptoms before the surgery, the compromise of the nerve before the surgery, the type and extent of surgery, and then the ability
and commitment of the patient undergoing rehab. I would ask both the surgeon and rehab physician and the PT what they think is
going on, they are much more familiar with your case. Yes, pain after surgery is the norm and it is usually intense. However, one
must be sure it is part of the normal healing process and not something new like inflammation. Most patients usually have to live
with some sort of pain for the rest of their lives, sorry to say. I would talk to your physicians and stick to rehab, it will pay off in
the long run.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro MD
Message:
Doctor's Answer
by CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS, Jan 09, 2000 12:00AM
Dear Jim:
I do not know what your neurosurgeon did in surgery, you will have to ask him/her. Disc removal is a very common type of surgery. Whether there was a "cage" needed is something that the surgeon decides depending on the instability of the area and what the disc removal will induce. A removal of just one disc usually does not cause instability. Your surgery was likely based on your need and not what someone else would have needed. Your spine is not just "hanging around" as the ligaments and other boney structures are still in place. There is no law saying what type of surgery is performed on what aged patient. All surgery depends on the need of the patient. If you needed a disc removal and that is what you and the surgeon decided, then a disc removal is what you received. Whether you are 10 or 50, if that is what is needed then that is the surgery you got. I am sure that you discussed this with the surgeon, neurologist, and family physician before surgery, what did they all recommend. It must have been surgery for that is what happened. I would go back and talk with them about your new concerns.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro MD
I do not know what your neurosurgeon did in surgery, you will have to ask him/her. Disc removal is a very common type of surgery. Whether there was a "cage" needed is something that the surgeon decides depending on the instability of the area and what the disc removal will induce. A removal of just one disc usually does not cause instability. Your surgery was likely based on your need and not what someone else would have needed. Your spine is not just "hanging around" as the ligaments and other boney structures are still in place. There is no law saying what type of surgery is performed on what aged patient. All surgery depends on the need of the patient. If you needed a disc removal and that is what you and the surgeon decided, then a disc removal is what you received. Whether you are 10 or 50, if that is what is needed then that is the surgery you got. I am sure that you discussed this with the surgeon, neurologist, and family physician before surgery, what did they all recommend. It must have been surgery for that is what happened. I would go back and talk with them about your new concerns.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro MD
