Foot drop and herniation and tendon ransfer

[davisesq212]

Two years ago, I began to stand from a seated position and had burning pain in my leg below my knee.  Long story short, I had an MRI which showed a L5-S1 herniation with compression.  I had a complete foot drop as well on that same side.  I had back surgery 6 weeks later when the foot drop did not lessen and had a follow up MRI showing the compression was gone.  The foot drop remained.  I then had a nerve release in my knee after an EMG showed significant peroneal damage at the knee.  No change post surgery.  I had several more EMGs by another doctor who discovered the nerve issues came from my back and not from the peroneal nerve.  I waited a year and had a tendon transfer in my foot.  

My question, although not totally important at this point, is whether many doctors or patients have had a spontaneous herniation in which a total foot drop resulted?  

[sonu78]

Hi,
Now the problem you have been facing is the disc protrusion/herniation.
This condition has become a more common entity in present time.
There are quite a number of incidents reported with foot drop secondary to spontaneous herination of the disc.

[davisesq212]

Sonu
Are you a doctor?  Why is this condition becoming more common nowadays?  How do you know about these incidents?

[davisesq212]

Sonu or anyone.still waiting for an answer to above................

[jcblank]

davisesq212--i see yo had a tendon transfer--can you give me any info on how that went?  i am a possible candidiate for that in the future following peroneal nerve damage.

[lcat]

Have you had success with the tendon transfer?  I am facing a similar situation.  I had years of back pain which increased and resulted in a foot drop in 2007.  I had surgery to in May 2007 but the foot drop has persisted.  I have had five EMGs since January which show a secondary source of denervation going on in the leg.  The doctors have considered Charcot Marie Tooth, ALS, Multifocal Motor Neuropathy as well about everything under the sun and are now back to a possible compression injury in the leg or additional issues with the back.  The surgeon I met yesterday wants to open the leg up and explore the nerve and eventually do a tendon transfer if the first surgery does not result in improvement.  I am really interested in anything you can share regarding recovery from your surgeries and what to expect.

[davisesq212]

I just posted a huge comment and it disappeared.  

Here I go again.....

Sucess? Yes and no.....Depends on what one considers successful.  I hoped for a lot more movement in my foot.  When I started, I had a complete foot drop?  Did you?  I had my foot slapping on the ground when walking.  I had no control.  Now, I can move it a little, maybe 1-3 degrees up.  That's on a good day.  The rest of the time, it's more or less in a neutral position.  

What type of surgery did you have in 2007?  What exactly did the EMGs show?  

What type of surgeon did you see recently?  Have you seen other surgeons?  I saw a total of 10 neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons before deciding on one and before deciding on what to do.  I also highly recommend before having the surgery, ask how many of these surgeries they have done.  This is a must.  Also, understand that you will have at the very least one year of PT post surgery.  It's a long long road.  

Even after, you still might be in a brace (I assume you are in one now).  I find it easier to walk with the brace even though I know I should practice more and more without.

Where do you live?  A large city, I hope.

Feel free to ask anything of me about the surgery.....

Claudia