Steve P Prodiscs at L4/L5 and L5/S1 January 2004

[iSpine-Admin]

Originally Posted by Steve P on February 28, 2004

SURGERY DATE:7th of January 2004

AGE AT SURGERY DATE:30

SURGEON: Dr. Bertagnoli

SURGERY LOCATION/CLINIC:Rudolfinerhaus, Vienna, Austria

DEVICE(s), LEVEL(s):2 Pro-Discs at L4/L5 and L5/S1

COST = Around 23000 Euros
AMOUNT BILLED: 23000 Euros
INSURANCE ALLOWED:0


ONSET OF LUMBAR PROBLEMS, DATE OF INJURY, CAUSE, ETC...: During a sports accident 3 years ago a friend knocked me out of the air and then landed on top of me. A week later as I was standing up to get out of a sofa I got a pain like a hot knife running across the base of my spine. This pain never let up from then on.

PRIOR SPINE SURGERIES AND PROCEDURES (IDET, ESI, etc...): None

PRE-OP MEDICATIONS: None although I was prescribed Diclofenac for a while

PRE-OP DIAGNOSTICS (discogram, nerve root blocks, etc...): 2 Discograms done in the UK which contradicted each other! MRI showed a complete prolapse at L4/L5 where bone was grinding on bone. One surgeon said this was not the pain generator and he would install a Maverick (hence UK_Maverick_Candidate) at L5/S1 and let L4/L5 autofuse! The other guy said L4/L5 was the pain generator but an ADR was impossible to do at that level for me and recommended a 4-level fusion. I went to see Zeegers and Bertagnoli and both said they would put an ADR in at L4/L5. Zeegers said he would prefer to fuse at L5/S1. Bertagnoli said he would put in a second Pro-Disc. I chose Bertagnoli.

PRE-OP NEUROPATHIES (what, where, & degree of pain, numbness, tingling, sexual/bladder/bowel symptoms, etc.): Pain and weakness in the whole left leg. Major numbness in the back of the leg, all the way down. Horrific tingling sensations which grew over the years.

PRE-OP CONDITION (Please include %leg pain/% back pain, pain levels, type of pain, ability to work and function, disability status, etc.... be direct, but be as verbose as you need to):

Forced to quit my desk job because I could not stay seated. Able to use a cross-trainer and stay fit but unable to have a short jog due to jarring pains. Prone to collapsing and generally very very irritable!

TIME POST-OP AT ORIGINAL POST HERE: 6 weeks

DESCRIBE YOUR SURGICAL EXPERIENCE: Superb. Please read my journal for the full story.

http://www.backpainsupportgroup.com/...i?ubb=get_topi c;f=6;t=000666

RATE FUNCTIONALITY / SATISFACTION AT INTERVALS BELOW:

FUNCTIONALITY:
1. Very poor: much worse... disabled after surgery.
2. Poor: worse after surgery.
3. Neutral: No improvement, or improvements offset by new problems.
4. Fair, some improvement, limitations are still serious.
5. Good, substantial improvement, some limitations.
6. Excellent: no limitations.

SATISFACTION:
1. Very sorry I had the surgery.
2. Somewhat sorry I had the surgery.
3. Too soon to tell, or I'm ambivalent about the surgery.
4. I'm somewhat glad I did my surgery.
5. I'm very glad I did my surgery.

FUNCTIONALITY: _5_ SATISFACTION: _5_ [6 WEEKS POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: _5_ SATISFACTION: _5_ [3 MONTHS POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [6 MONTHS POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [1 YEAR POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [2 YEARS POST-OP]

6 WEEKS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ECT... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

At six weeks I have returned to work already. My back pain is mostly gone and all of the worst symptoms (like tingling and involuntary twitches) are disappearing fast. Some numbness is still present (including some new numbness) and my stamina is very low but I hope to improve with time. I feel like the slide in my health has been halted. With work, I believe I can pull it back from the brink. Before the surgery, I could not see how this could be done.

3 MONTHS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

At 3 months I can safely say that all of the nasty foot numbness/tingling/twitching has completely gone. My stamina is much higher although there is still pain in the base of my spine and my flexibilty is coming back slowly. I am able to work and travel across the city to do so. All in all, happy with the result although my discipline in doing my bed exercises three times a day is half the battle won. This is mainly due to my lack of condition in the spine area before the surgery. As they said at the Alphaklinik, people cannot force muscles to work through pain and they become atrophied. I am pretty sure that the exercises will be my lust hurdle although I have my X-ray control with Dr. B. at the 6 month mark.

6 MONTHS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

1 YEAR POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

2 YEARS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

Waiting for an update from Steve P.