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← Return to Failed lumbar fusion
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Dear Jennifer,
Thanks for getting back to me. I was told the reason the fusion failed was because the pedicles of the bones are really small and they should have used a pediatric screw instead of a regular screw and the angle on my lower back is 90 degrees and that added tension to the fusion. I did have a lot of scar tissue from the previous surgery as well. When I went back to see the surgeon after he said the operation was horrendous and I was in a lot of pain. He referred me to another Dr. after he saw the x rays and told me I was going to need a redo and said he probably never should have operated on me and that he thought he could do the conservative surgery and make it work but it didn't and now I have to do this. It was the second Dr. who told me I had the broken vertebra and the screws were coming loose
I really appreciated having someone to talk with I have not found anyone else who even knows about this kind of operation.
Replies to "Dear Jennifer, Thanks for getting back to me. I was told the reason the fusion failed..."
@bgl I know about this kind of problem because of watching online videos of surgeons speaking at spine conferences making presentations to other surgeons. It was video I found because I was searching for videos for a particular surgeon and this was something he spoke about and talked about doing revision surgeries for a failed back surgery. They have to calculate everything, and if they are also correcting a deformity, they have to figure out exactly what to do if they are reshaping bone for a better alignment and building constructs with rods. They consider what they call sagital balance so the center of gravity is where it should be so as not to stress the spine further and fatigue the patient. I hope your new surgeon has a lot of spine deformity experience in major back surgeries. Have they explained how they will address this without causing further damage when applying fixation to the spine? Did they explain how they will attach implants on the front of the spine?
I am glad they were honest with you even though that must have been difficult news to hear. No surgeon wants to fail, and admitting that was probably uncomfortable for them and must have been a learning experience. They may talk about your case at conferences in the future. That probably isn't much comfort since you are the one left with the problem and a much longer recovery time to what your new normal will be. Did they show you the x-rays?
My cervical surgery was fairly simple. It was just one level, and I opted for no hardware, so all I have is a bone graft for my fusion and then I was in a neck brace for 3 months. I had some unusual symptoms, and 5 surgeons passed on my case because they didn't understand it. That was when I came to Mayo where my symptoms were understood as being related to the physical problem in my spine and the compressed spinal cord. It's hard being a patient who can't find help, and having a failed surgery would be hard too. This is the reason to ask how many procedures a surgeon has done and their personal success rate with it for what they are recommending. It sounds like this first surgeon was not very experienced in what you needed.
Rachel makes a good point to gather your strength now and healing energy and go forward believing that you can overcome this setback. I really believe that patients have some control over their outcomes in that way in the recovery that comes after the surgeon finishes his job. I had to find that myself as a way to overcome my fear of surgery and that was an important life lesson for me.
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@bgl1 My mom has an extensive history of surgeries, some not so successful, some quite successful. I sent this to her as a reminder of her strength. I'll share it with you...