Anterior/Posterior 360 fusion 6 months and still have cosiderable pain.

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My doctor performed anterior/posterior 360 fusion with cage plate and screws at L5-S1. I had this surgury on3/24/2008. I am 6 months out and going to PT. The sharp pain I had before the surgery is gone however; I now have sharp pain in a different place coupled with siatic symptoms and a constant ache in the general area of the fusion. PT makes symptoms worse. I currently tale 4-6 Vicodin a day to control the pain. It seems like after the surgery, I have traded one pain for another. anyone else going through the same situation? The only saving grace is that I am able to work 20 hours a week......helps keep the mind off of this snowball affect situation.
 
Have you had an X-ray to see if the hardware is still in place and all is in the proper location? You might want to postpone any further PT until you see what is going on. If a screw is in the wrong location, or something has slipped, it is possibe that the PT is making things worse and hurt more.

Unfortunately it is fairly common, or at least not uncommon, to get rid of one type of pain only to end up with something else...and the surgeon is always "surprised!" I had a PLIF at L4-5 in Jan and woke up with the pain gone. But the next day while working with the hospital PT for the first time, a new but equally horrendous pain came on, and I've been dealing with it ever since. Everyone keeps saying that it can take up to 2 years for the nerve pain to clear.

Have you seen your surgeon recently to discuss the problem with him? I would think he would want to order an X-ray to see whether you're fusing and where the placement of the hardware is...and maybe an MRI to see if anything else is going on. Depending on what was wrong in the first instance, you may have ruptured a disc one level up, you could have piriformis syndrome or problems with the SI joint. All these problems have sciatic pain as a symptom.

Good luck in tracking down the source of the pain.

xx M:wave:M
 
marlo... I have had x-rays 6 times since the surgery and all looks well. I guess I have to be patient with this and have a wait and see attitude. I am concerned that I will continue to have alot of paint for a very long time. I don't want to have to take pain meRAB but have no choice. Thanks for the reply!!!!!!
 
I definitely traded one pain for another, but I have a very long fusion, 14 levels. When S1 is involved, you may experience pain with sitting, since your spine neeRAB to be able to "bend" a bit to sit, even if you're sitting bolt upright. If you have only L5-S1 done, you may gradually see that pain lessen over time. I hope so! Have you talked to your physical therapist about it? You may need to learn to move and sit differently to alleviate that sort of pain, like sitting as high as possible with your feet tucked under the chair (if this is the type of pain you're having).

For me, this pain is more or less controllable with pain meRAB. The pain I had before wasn't touched by the meRAB. So I'm happy with the trade. I think I came out ahead!

You do still have a ways to go for a full recovery, so don't lose hope that you can still see improvement.

I've found that leaning on a cane when I'm going to be on my feet for a while really helps to keep that sciatic pain down, by the way.

I wish you the best. Hang in there!

Emily
 
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