Need Help Finding Spine Surgeon

[Sessy]

Hi Everybody,

My husband had back surgery more than 10 years ago. It was an anterior lumbar fusion with BAK cages in L4-S1. He has been in pain ever since. He - and me too - were so traumatized by that surgery that going through another had been unthinkable.

During these years, he has had better and worse periods. Lately - year and a half - it has been worse and not getting better. It has been getting worse.

He is now considering another surgery - if he can find a doctor to revise this fusion.

About a year after the ALIF, a different surgeon offered a revision surgery - a posterior fusion - said that the alif likely didn't fuse and maybe a posterior fusion would force the fusion.

My question is: How do we find a spine surgeon who will evaluate him properly? We live in south Florida - it is so hard for him to travel and it seems like the best surgeons are in other areas of the country. How do we find a surgeon who can do this complex revision now that no one ever uses these cages anymore and just looks at someone who has them as messed up and nothing can be done for them.

He did get relief of his severe back pain for a couple of months after the inital surgery and then it came back. I know he can be helped. He has only one cage in L4-5 and right after the surgery, the surgeons came in and said he would probably need another surgery due to the instability in his back. A recent MRI states partial fusion and it looks like one of the cages in L5-S1 is off to the right too much - maybe impinging on a nerve. He did go to a surgeon here who said everything looks good and that he cannot do anything for back pain. My husband does have pain in his legs too and walks with a shuffling gait and uses a cane outside the house.

Anyways, I seem to be going on and on. Need help in how to find a spine surgeon for lumbar fusion revision.

Sessy