Lower Back Surgery - Spinal Cord Disorders Message Board

FeistyTexasGal · 02-01-2008, 10:05 AM

My husband has complained of pain and leg numbness for two months. The MRI impressions are 1.) Large left paracentral disc extrusion at L5-S1 severely displacing the transversing left S1 nerve posteriorly causing flattening of the anterior nerbe but no evidence of compression against any adjacent structures. Moderate arthrosis is present in posterior joints bilaterally2.) Posterior bulging of the disc at L4-5 slightly exaggerated by mild retrolisthesis, and injury to the ligamentous annular complex. Bulge appears to displace the trnasversing L5 nerves posteriorly bilaterally. 3.) Moderately sever capsulitis of the posterior joint L3-4 on the left. 4.) Small capsular cyst in the anterior portion of the left posterior joint at L4-5.

Two doctors said he needed back surgery immediately after spending 5minutes with him. My doc says bone from the bone bank cannot be tested for AIDS. Both of his docs want to use bone from the bone bank. I read that lower back surgery is usually unnecessary and doesn't always take. My questions are, what exactly is really wrong with him? Does he need surgery or therapy or injections? Is bone morphogenetic protein safe? Thanks, Karen

SpineAZ · 02-01-2008, 10:03 PM

You may want to check out the Back Pain board. Most of us here are dealing with cervical (neck) issues. There is a ton of information on the Back Pain board (I look at both since I have both neck and back problems).

What I will tell you is if the test results correspond to his pain - then often surgery will work. If the pain is shooting down his leg and he has numbness in his leg - then the diagnosis he has been given seems in line. When back surgery doesn't work is when there is pain but no tests that show damage or a defect that would correlate to the pain.

The bone banks do test the specimens and from what I've seen AIDS is usually not an issue (easily diagnosed at death via autopsy or blood tests). If AIDS is found the bone does not make it into the supply chain. Any good surgeon can answer the question "What can you tell me about the testing on the donated bone?"

However, there is the option to use his own bone (called autologous - of one's own) usually taken from the pelvis/hip). I had my back (and neck) surgeries done by Orthopedic Spine Surgeons so perhaps seek out a consultation with one of them if you haven't already done so. In my back surgery I had my own bone used.

julie10 · 02-02-2008, 12:39 PM

When my cercival MRI came back and said "moderate to severe" my surgery was ordered immediately, too. Long term damage could be occuring and the sooner something is done, whether that's surgery or not, the better and less likely he is to have long term issues.

I wish you both well.