I will try to make this short as possible.
I have had back pain for more then 20
years, I am a 37 yo female living in
constant pain. I had fusion surgery at
l4-l5 5 years ago and a laminectomy at
l5-s1 3 years ago. I have had nerve pain
in both legs right worse then left,
different areas of numbness and tingling,
burning feet and constant low back pain
like a gnawing or burning also pain in
right hip and knee which gets worse when
back pain does. I am currently taking
oxycodone, antidepressants, and a few
other meds which really dont help much
other then take the edge off for an hour
or so after I take the pain med, have been
for nerve block injections prior to and
after surgery, therapy numerous times also
before and after. I saw my primary care
doc in March and she was supposed to set
me up for mri and evaluation by new
neurosurgeon. 2 months later in May this
still wasnt scheduled. I called for the
3rd time and finally got mri appt. The
results came back as follows.
Magnetic susceptibility artifact is seen
within the L4-5 disc space related to
prior surgery with metallic cage interbody
fusion.
There is desiccation of the L3-4 disc with
mild to moderate disc space narrowing.
There is mild scoliosis convex to the
left.
At L1-2 L2-3 Normal
At L3-4 There has been interval
development of a right paracentral and
lateral disc protrusion mildly indenting
the thecal sac. There is no evidence of
central canal stenosis. Mild neural
foraminal narrowing is present with mild
facet joint degenerative changes.
At L4-5 There is laminectomy defect. There
is no evidence of disc herniation or
central canal stenosis. There is moderate
neural foraminal narrowing, left greater
then right. Mild epidural enhancement is
present.
At L5-S1 There is no evidence of disc
herniation or central canal stenosis. A
laminectomy defect is present. Facet joint
degenerative changes are seen. There is
mild epidural enhancemt. There is mild to
modertae right and mild left neural
foraminal narrowing.
Conclusion:
1. again seen are postsurgical changes at
L4-5 and L5-S1 with epidural scarring.
2. Interval development of a right
paracentral and lateral disc protrusion at
L3-4
Nothing is mentioned in the conclusion
about the forminal narrowing seen at each
lvl. Is that something that is normal ?
I got a copy of the Mri sent to me and I
was told I would recieve it after the Dr
was notified. But I had my results days
before I heard from primary cares office.
When they called, the nurse said
everything appeared normal then asked if I
had any pain numbness or tingling, I told
her I did and that was why the Dr ordered
the new Mri in the first place and that
they were supposed to schedule an
appointment with a neuro who specialized
in just backs. I was told they would do
that and call me back. They did and my new
appt isnt for 3 months. I was wondering
what other people think about my
situation. To me its not normal to have
pain all the time and those results dont
look all that normal either, but I am not
a Dr just someone who is suffering day in
day out. If anyone can give me an opinion
of what they think of the Mri results or
if they have been thru the about the same
thing, I would appreciate it. I know I am
not alone although I do feel that way
often. Sorry this was so long and thanks
for your time. &
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CarolDiane
Moderator
Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 2392 Location: ,
Thanks: 111
Thanked:156
Posted: 06-10-08 17:26pm
MRI's are very hard to read. There are a
few web sites you can go to if you google
in vertabre injuries. Reason being, you
have no clue as to what you are looking
for or at. I myself get very angry when a
doctor does not go over the film with a
patient while they are there at the
office. Or call them in to go over them.
If I were you, I would demand an
appointment to go over it with you neuro
or doc.
|
Zak_han
Supporter
Joined: 13 Jun 2008 Posts: 56 Location: Bristol, UK
Thanks: 3
Thanked:0
Physical examination is more important than MRI for diagnosis . Posted: 06-14-08 08:07am
Generally speaking, MRI of back will not
properly help to identify the cause of the
pain.as there are have too many reason
whose have same symptoms.another reason is
we get older we all have changes in the
bones of the back which are due to normal
ageing (spondylosis); these changes will
be visible on anMRI but, as suggested
above, may not be causing the
pain.Occasionally a MRI scan may help.
According to your symptoms,my opinion is
that you slao suffer from soft tissue
injury around L3-L5,which can lead to many
symptoms as you said.
Basically,deep and intensive acupuncture
can help.
Good luck!
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rollar64
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Nov 2006 Posts: 146 Location: melbourne
Thanks: 2
Thanked:0
Posted: 06-16-08 04:04am
Hi cantthinkofone sorry to hear of your
health problems, doctors often say things
are normal when they are not, you have
some artharitis in your facet joints at
L3-L4 these are small joints at the back
of the vertabra. Also at this level the
disk is touching the thecal sac whith is a
membrane that surrounds the spinal cord,
Scoliosis is an abnormal sideways
curveture of the spine.
neural foraminal narrowing means the
grooves between the vertabra that the
nerves course out of have narrowed, but it
does not say that any of the nerves are
being compressed.
Epidural enhancement means that there is
inflammation in the spinal canal.
The fact that they did not include the
foraminal narrowing in the conclusion
probably does not mean anything untoward
is going on, its there in the findings so
it cannot be denied.