Operative outcomes for cervical myelopathy and radiculopathy. The patient's pain did not improve with 6 months of conservative treatment that included physical therapy and epidural injections. But you cant know this for sure until almost a year has passed. So You Can Turn Them Off And Liberate Yourself From Back And Shoulder Pain, A New Non-Drug Treatment For Cervical Dystonia. I HAVE STABBING PAIN BETWEEN MY SHOULDER BLADES AND SEVERE MUSCLE SPASMS AND PAIN FROM THE BASE OF MY SKULL THROUGH MY SHOULDER AND DOWN INTO MY RIGHT ARM TO MY ELBOW. HE SAID THAT SHOULD BE A SMOOTH CURVATURE, NOT A HUMP, BUT CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT THAT AND NOT EVEN SURE THAT IS CAUSING PROBLEM. The primary goal of surgery is to relieve your symptoms by decompressing, or relieving pressure on, the compressed nerves in your neck. Spinal fusion is a common form of back surgery used to treat several kinds of back problems, including scoliosis, vertebral weakness, and herniated discs. Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 14 total). A CT scan can reveal this. Surgeon said no but agreed to a CT scan, which I had done on Tuesday. It also is normal to have some swallowing difficulty. For someone like me who does more than 300 ACDFs a year, being able to have this in my armamentarium to avoid having to do bigger posterior fusions or big anterior removal of plates is a huge value added.. Core strength in the entire spine supports everything in the body including the neck. I really haven't had many problems since the surgery, other than my neck being stiff. I had a MRI with contrast on the left shoulder in January to see if it might show something noteworthy and different than the one I had in August. The screw can be inserted incorrectly and advanced into a nerve or facet joint causing pain and weakness. Join Date: Sep 2004. WebACDF surgery may be an option if physical therapy or medications fail to relieve your neck or arm pain caused by pinched nerves. Hello, Gilmore06. I don't know if this is a big deal or not and if it could be the source of my continued arm/shoulder issues. The expected length of a hospital stay after an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion usually overnight for one or two level procedures. The primary goal of surgery is to relieve your symptoms by decompressing, or relieving pressure on, the compressed nerves in your neck. Except for a worsening in expectations of surgery fulfilled (p = 0.04) there were no significant differences between 6-month and 3-year outcome. I prepared myself mentally for a great surgical recovery and worked a lot on deprogramming my fears and it all worked. It was from C4-C6 with two spacers and a plate with six screws. This one was landed me on my behind. My pain was immediately gone, and my arm feels great. The differential is now down to facets in the lower cervical spine, thoracic degenerative disc disease, neuropathic pain syndrome, Scheuermanns disorder or a rib/vertebral articulation (as long as the ACDF is a solid fusion). 2021 Oct;37(10):1096-1108. doi: 10.1080/09593985.2019.1683921. Do not use nicotine for at least three months. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). PMC Would you like email updates of new search results? 2 Anteriorly and 1 posteriorly. If you had a bone graft taken from your pelvis, you may experience pain, soreness, and stiffness at the incision site. There may be a pseudoarthrosis (lack of fusion) of one of the two levels. You also have surgical scar tissue in an adjacent Posts: 9,238. Posts: 55. The pain still got worse. HHS Vulnerability Disclosure, Help The most common post-operative neural disorder is C5 nerve palsy. I AM 6 MONTHS POST OP ANTERIOR CERVICAL DISECTOMY WITH FUSION AT C5/6 6/7. If I don't get satisfactory answers with the neurosurgeon I am either going to go back to the shoulder doc ("if" the surgeon thinks it's a shoulder issue) or make an appointment with Mayo. Choosing a fusion let me avoid hardware and I agreed to stay in a neck brace until fused which was at 3 to 4 months. THE PAIN RETURNED ABOUT 6 WKS AFTER SURGERY. Has anyone experience consistent sore throat and sleep apnea? Rejection of a graft or other structures. Blood Clots. If you have already had facet injections in the area of your thoracic pain, you can generally rule them out as a pain generator. It hasn't helped. government site. I didn't take one muscle relaxer or pain pill after the surgery. With this new technology, we have the opportunity to advance how we take care of patients with cervical spine disease, Haglund says. Both of them, along with two physical therapists, said my issues were cervical spine which is why I had surgery. Do not use nicotine for at least three months. Recovery time after ACDF surgery generally lasts about four to six weeks. Unable to load your collection due to an error, Unable to load your delegates due to an error. I didn't even take any pain medication at home after my surgery because it was tolerable and I just rested and took my time in healing. No new disc protrusion or mass effect upon the canal. The average recovery time is 4 to 6 weeks. There is straightened cervical spine lordosis with preserved alignment, normal marrow signal, and no prevertebral soft tissue swelling. The first was c6 & c7, found out it didn't fuse. I am off to a pain management center today at 3. I miss doing the simple things. In an attempt to resolve the pain and return to his daily activities, he tried physical therapy, over-the-counter medications, muscle relaxants, steroids, and epidural injections, but his pain persisted. PT, and myofascial release can help a lot, and when there is a structural problem to correct, look for the best surgeon you can find because that helps you have a successful procedure and recovery. over a year ago, Pain in the Neck68921 It is not a sharp pain but a steady dull ache like you would get from over exercising. Wow, that was a big surgery too. I have had some shoulder issues too, a SLAP tear in the capsule in one, and a frozen shoulder in the other caused by the contrast that they injected during an MRI for shoulder instability. In an attempt to bring these individuals back into their full-speed lives again, doctors and other spine treatment providers focus on mitigating pain. In fact, ACDF surgeries have an average success rate of between 73% to 100%. Rothman Orthopaedic Institute offers several options for patients with spine disorders. A week later, Tom arrived at Dr. Kachmann's office. over a year ago, visitor283201 Take care Jenniferhunter. Three or four level fusion may require additional days. Computed tomography at Duke confirmed solid fusion at all 3 levels but incomplete fusion at C6-C7. Is It Just Shoulder Pain Or A Heart Attack? WebMuscle pain after Cervical Fusion Surgery may be due to a new shoulder injury. As others have mentions, drs seemed stumped by the pain issue. So your fusion was in your cervical. Acta Neurochir (Wien). And if it didnt fuse the first time, whats your guarantee that it fuses the next time?. Case Description:A 45-year-old male initially underwent a C3-4 and C5-6 anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF).At age 49, 4 years later, he presented with worsening dysphagia accompanied by neck and right upper extremity pain. According to the parameters studied 50 - 78% of those who at the 6-month follow-up were without deficit were still healthy at the 3-year follow-up. Posts: 55. Do not know if that is what is causing the pain or not. It is nerve damage. Does Frozen Shoulder Sound Familiar To You? Cervical Spondylosis (Arthritis Of The Neck): Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Complications Of Anterior Cervical Discectomy And Fusion Surgery, What to Expect After Surgery to the Cervical Spine, Possible Complaints After Neck Fusion Surgery. It is FREE! ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCED THE SAME AND GOTTEN BETTER? I don't know if it's technically MFR though. Results of the prospective, randomized, controlled multicenter Food and Drug Administration investigational device exemption study of the ProDisc-C total disc replacement versus anterior discectomy and fusion for the treatment of 1-level symptomatic cervical disc disease. MOVING MY HEAD IN ANY WAY SENDS SHARP PAINS THROUGH MY NECK, SHOULDERS AND IN THE CENTER OF MY SHOULDER BLADES. Then a cervical epidural (no relief). However, an ACDF is still considered major surgery, and complete recovery from an ACDF procedure can take between three to six months. The patient traveled to Duke to consult with Michael Haglund, MD, PhD, a neurosurgeon who specializes in cervical spine disease. Drs fail to tell patients this, instead they go by what they read in textbooks in school. During the surgery, the spine surgeon accesses the cervical vertebrae from the front of the neck. I really haven't had many problems since the surgery, other than my neck being stiff. Keep in mind your body has to heal on the inside & calm down from the trauma of If you want to get notified by every reply to your post, please register. There may be numbness in the arms. Thanks again for your response! Doctors generally say that nerve pain can take up to a year to resolve, sometimes as long as 18 months depending on how long the nerve was compressed. Peolsson A, Peterson G, Hermansen A, Ludvigsson ML, Dedering , Lfgren H. BMJ Open. Pre-op most symptoms were in the left arm/shoulder/hand. Much thanks. Adv Orthop. I really haven't had many problems since the surgery, other than my neck being stiff. Haglund performed a minimally invasive posterior cervical fusion with the DTRAX cervical cage system (Providence Medical Technology, Pleasanton, CA). It might. Take any medications that your doctor prescribes for pain and constipation. Hope you are", "@jenniferhunter thanks for your insight. Wow, that was a big surgery too. March 26, 2018 Three months after undergoing C5-T1 anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), an active 60-year-old man from Florida began to experience recurrent neck and left shoulder pain. Physiotherapy after anterior cervical spine surgery for cervical disc disease: study protocol of a prospective randomised study to compare internet-based neck-specific exercise with prescribed physical activity. I feel great. PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. 2008 May-Jun;8(3):436-42. doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2007.06.006. The more I do that, the less fatigued I get after some miles of riding, and then everything is easier, even walking and climbing stairs because I built the hip, leg and back strength by using all those muscles. I had acdf at C5-C6. I had been turned down 5 times by local surgeons who didn't understand my symptoms and none would help me, but I knew that this Mayo surgeon would understand because of reading about a similar symptom of leg pain that was caused by cervical stenosis. The most common post-operative neural disorder is C5 nerve palsy. If i had known it was going to be such a pain after my surgery i would have looked for better options. She did note I do still have weakness and that because of that, I could be having the pain that I am (i.e. I had ACDF on C5 C6 about three weeks ago. Thoracic spinal cord is normal. The more I open that up and release the tightness, the better my arm feels and I breathe better too. I HAVE STABBING PAIN BETWEEN MY SHOULDER BLADES AND SEVERE MUSCLE SPASMS AND PAIN FROM THE BASE OF MY SKULL THROUGH MY SHOULDER AND DOWN INTO MY RIGHT ARM TO MY ELBOW.