Things going very wrong after Dynesys

[steveb872]

Hi, new to this, posting from the UK. I work in an operating theatre that does spinal surgery, the consultant I work with did a Dynesys fusion on my in the summer of 2006, I was back to work in 10 weeks. Since then its all been downhill, lol. I am off work at the minute with raging back pain, I am taking 20mg morphine every 6hrs. A recent MRI shows the screws are in place an have not migrated. My surgeon stopped doing the Dynesys about 12 months ago because he was not convinced about the long term sucess rate. I have now been refered to a different consultant, my symptoms seem to point to a facet joint problem, boy is it painful, so hopefully nothing to do with the original surgery, but on reading various web sites not 100% convinced. See ya

[mmglobal]

Steve... thanks for the update. It's pretty hard to get our head wrapped around so many new technologies. We've seen some wonderful successes with Dynesys and too many not-so-successful surgeries too. Real world experiences like yours will help us to evaluate our options more effectively.

Is there anything unique about your configuration that makes the doctor understand why you were not a good candidate, even though the indications were there for him?

I hope you find some relief... thanks for sharing.

Mark

[johnb]

I've been in touch with a UK patient from another board that had good initial results from dynesys but has gone downhill after time. She had a battery of tests but the screws looked okay. She also said it has fallen out of favor in the UK according to her surgeon. It has created additional leg pain for me. It started very soon after surgery and an MRI with contrast didn't point to scar tissue. I'm having mine removed without further spine surgery. It isn't worth irritating the disc above it.

John

[eternaloptimist1]

I started this thread in June 2007. Only this week have I finally been given a diagnosis for the leg weakness and pain I've had since then. I finally gave up on the major London neurology hospital as they said they "knew I had a problem somewhere but couldn't find the cause of it."

I went private and found a good surgeon well experienced in complex spinal surgery who ordered a cat scan and now all is revealed and it's shocking.
First off, the anterior fusion done in 1995 at L4/S1 has not healed and the staples are coming out, in fact the L4/5 staple can be clearly seen almost completely out.

The Dynesys screws ( L3/4 ) are badly placed and some of them have protruded through to the far side (anterior) of the vertebrae, the threading on the screws can be clearly seen on the "virtual reality" pictures poking out.
The screws have damaged the facet joints and there are fragments of bone loose in my spine.

The disc above the Dynesys has prolapsed also.

Plus the surgeon says my leg weakness IS due to cord compression in my neck.
I'm getting revision surgery soon and I've been told to contact the surgeon immediately if my neck/arm symptoms get any worse.
I'm devastated to learn how much damage has been done to me but hugely relieved to have been given the truth at last.

[dshobbies]

Hi ET1,

I wish I had more comforting words but knowing what's wrong is half the battle. Finding a good doctor is the other half and it now looks like you have both.

I hope your revision surgery is successful but what are you going to do about your cervical cord compression?

Dale

[Maria]

EternalOptimist,
While I'd be pretty upset to hear about that report as well if it were mine after all this time I know I'd be relieved to at least know what was going on vs. hearing "there's a problem somewhere but we don't know where/what it is...". Here's hoping your revision surgery goes smoothly with an excellent outcome and your cervical issues will hold off long enough for the revision surgery recovery in full. Best wishes with all and please keep us posted.

[eternaloptimist1]

Hi dshobbies and Maria
Thankyou so much for your support and best wishes
It's been a long long journey and I'm not "out of the woods" yet where actually getting the first lot of surgery done is concerned, but considering how much heel dragging has been done by so many health professionals who said they 'couldn't find the cause of my problems' it's a BIG breakthrough to have got this far.
Watch this space as they say and I'll be back to let you know how things progress.
Once again many thanks for your kind thoughts and I wish both of you good health too.

[fuzzy]

I am so glad you found someone who is truly interested in diagnosing you. I have a similar situation with my neck and it is amazing how frequently this gets overlooked.

I wish you the best!