I am looking into possibly participating in a clinical trial. If I am deemed to be a candidate, I would have either the Charite' or the Active-L device implanted in my L5-S1 region (not sure if my jargon is correct).
The trial is being held at RUSH Medical Center and would be administered by Dr. Deutsch. Since I am still researching this treatment and others, I am hoping that I can find answers to a few of my questions here:
- Can someone offer any background information regarding Dr. Deutsch?
- How do Charite' and Active-L compare to the next generation artificial discs such as the Freedom Lumbar Disc?
- Are there any downsides to participating in clinical trials? From my perspective, I get a free ADR performed and the only "cost" is that I have follow up visits to the doctor for the next 5 years (which would most likely be a prudent measure even if I were paying for this out of my own pocket).
- How likely is it that ADR could result in retrograde ejaculation?
- I have read that the surgery would keep me in the hospital for ~3 days. How long would it be before I could return to work? I have an office job where I sit in front of a computer 8 hours a day.
- I had a surgeon explain that the reason I have DDD is due to a genetic condition where my lower most disc never formed at birth and the two vertabrae fused around that time. The adjacent disc (L5-S1) has basically been performing double duty my whole life and is now calling it quits. The surgeon stated to me that this condition occurs in 1 out of 10 people. I never caught the name he gave this condition, but I wanted to see if anyone else might be familiar with this.
- Is it possible to participate in a clinical study if it is not in your area?
Any info is greatly appreciated.