Please Translate A Part Of My MRI Report?
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi there. I had a Microdiscectomy surgery on December 2018 (L5-S1). I'm reaching one year and still no relief whatsoever. I will be seeing my orthopedic surgeon in two days and a part of me is just anxious and was wondering if anyone can translate what my results are, particularly what it says regarding my L5-S1 section. Thank you very much for your help and time.
L5-S1: there is a mild congenital spinal stenosis on the basis of shortened pedicles. Left laminectomy defect. The central and left paracentral disc protrusion is no longer evident with minimal residual disc bulge. There is however, some residual tissue in the far left lateral recess encroaching on the proximal neural foramen (series 6, image 13) which has similar T2 signal characteristics of the disc and which could represent small disc protrusion given that it protrudes posteriorly from the disc margins and minimally focally impinges on the descending S1 nerve root without displacement or compression. It does show some enhancement. There is also enhancement along the left anterior and left lateral aspects of the thecal sac at this level and surrounding the descending left L5 nerve root in keeping with epidural fibrosis.
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CHICO_MARX melverse
Posted
My orthopedic surgeon takes care of my shoulders (two scopes), knees (fours scopes, one TKR) and my hips (one replaced). My neurosurgeon takes care of my spine...period. Two laminectomies and two fusions...all successful.
I recommend that you see a neurosurgeon and have him/her order a CT/Myelogram with contrast. This is the "gold standard" spine test and provides the surgeon with an extremely detailed map of your spine.
melverse CHICO_MARX
Posted
Oh my god! Thank you so much for your input and advice. My appointment with my orthopedic surgeon is on Tuesday. What I'll do is discuss having him refer me to a neurosurgeon and get a referral for the CT Scan with Myelogram that you spoke to me about. at the moment, my family doctor has me on 4 percocets a day. However, I find that they don't work for long, only 1 pill last about 2 hours so I'm in a bit of a bind and very depressed.
Seafarer123 melverse
Posted
That's a much more complicated MRI report than I've ever seen for myself, and I've had various spinal and disc problems over the years. I'm not a medical professional but just reading it as a layman, it kinda sounds like they are saying that while the surgeon appears to have corrected one disc bulge in your last surgery, there may be a difficult-to-see second bulge off to the left. Perhaps that is the cause of continuing pain? Definitely something to ask the doctor about.
It took me almost a year - and a commitment to regular physical therapy - to get pain relief following my discectomy and laminectomy. What kind of pain are you having? Is it still a sciatic pain down your leg, or is it pain right in the lumbar area of your spine?
One additional test they can do is an EMG/Nerve Conduction Study - this will tell them if, following your surgery, the pace at which your leg nerves are healing is outpacing the pace at which they are dying due to the previous disc bulge. That's the positive result you want to see, new nerve pathways developing to replace the ones that were "denervating" due to the disc bulge. And also perhaps a CT scan with contrast as an alternative to the MRI, as has been mentioned to you in the other comment. And it never hurts to take your films for a second opinion, and to a neurosurgeon as has been suggested, since your current guy is an orthopedic surgeon.
melverse Seafarer123
Posted
Thank you so much for your response. At the moment my back hurts more on the left side. the same area as where my orthopedic surgeon did work on. I feel like my back is being grabbed and like crushed like a can. like a crushing and uncomfortable feeling. I will definitely discuss getting a CT Scan as well as obtaining a referral from my orthopedic surgeon to see a Neurosurgeon to get more insight. I'm very depressed. my family doctor has given me various medications and at this point, Percocet is the only one that works and unfortunately my relief only lasts for 2 hrs. it's quiet disappointing. Thank you very much for your advice and suggestions. It's greatly appreciated.