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From: Charles Landreth
Date: 03 Apr 2003
Time: 13:29:58 -0500
Remote Name: 63.74.143.67
My wife had a similar occurance. She had a herniated disk at L5/S1, when they attempted to patch the disk they tore the dural layer. She also had continued pain as you decribed. About 6 months later she had the disk removed and a fusion in the area. The fusion didn't take, but the interesting part is that due to the dural tear. Scar tissue began to form and push on the spinal cord. To the point of blocking the cerebral fluid that conditions the nerves. This condition is called Arachnoiditis and is mis-diagnoised the majority of the time. I don't know if this is what is happening with you, but they can do a mylogram to check this. Unfortunately, this is a painful test (at least the part where they tilt the table around to get the dye circulating to the correct spot). She will be getting some titanium plates over the L4/L5/S1 area later this year. If arachnoiditis is developing for you as well, I can tell you that they don't have a good cure at this time. There is a surgery to go in and scrape the nerves of scar tissue, but the odds of success are relatively low (40% I think), and few doctors will perform it due to the risk involved. She has found some relief with Neurontin. It helps, but isn't a cure. I know your post is old, but I thought I would post this in any event. Thanks, Charles Landreth clandreth@attbi.com