Do l need spinal fusion??
Posted , 2 users are following.
If there are any medical professionals out there l would appreciate your input.l am a 51year old man.l have been hgv mechanic for 15 years.Then after that have been a class 1 hgv driver.l had a
Microdiscectomy on L5/S1 then l went back to work but 12 months later l ended up having a revisional discectomy but it didn't work and l had to finish work.I am now suffering with chronic back and nerve pain with sciatica in my left leg.My wife has had to quit her job to look after me after she spent years training to be a teaching assistant. It makes me feel guilty as l have always provided for her and our 3 grown up children.l loved my job and worked very hard to get
there.l would go back tomorrow if l could l haven't had to claim anything before but now l have to l am been constantly hounded to prove l can't work which has now caused me to have anxieties and depression.Even though I have sent letters from neurosurgeons and doctors letters etc.
I have just had a conversation with someone else on this site what do you think. Here is what my last scan said 3 years ago.
MRI Lumbaosacral spine.
Standard T1 and T2 weighted axial and digital sequences of the lumbar spine. The last axially imaged invertebral disc is counted as L5/S1.
Vertebral bodies are of normal height and alignment.Normal bone marrow signal.The spinal canal is of small diameter probably congenital.
L1/L2 High intensities zone is suggestive of an annular fissure.
L2/L3 No disc germination or foraminal narrowing.
L4/L5 There is diffused disc bulge and it is seen indenting the theca
.Disc bulge in combination with the facets hypertrophy and laxity of ligamentum flavum is causing moderate central canal stenosis.
L5/S1 Diffused disc bulge with indentation of the theca posterity.
Bilateral mild foranimal narrowing due to facets hypertrophy.
That's it hope it helps Dean.
0 likes, 1 reply
SciaticaWill Guest
Posted
Hi Dean,
Sorry to hear you're suffering with this issue. I am not a medic but am a physio so hopefully I can be of at least some help.
It would be very difficult for anyone on the site to give an accurate recommendation without reviewing you face to face or seeing the scans, but from the report I don't see anything stated that necessarily makes me think you definitely require a spinal fusion.
Unfortunately, the outcomes with spinal fusions are only positive roughly a third of the time. One third of people stay the same following the op, and a third actually get worse.
As always, getting personal advice tailored to you from a doctor or surgeon would be the best bet. I take it you have had a good course of physiotherapy from a decent clinician?
Hope this helps,
Will?