Originally Posted by kittycapucine1974

Hi, Lit Love:

I realize surgery is very risky for RSD patients. When my orthopedic surgeon told me I would need surgery on my left knee (the area where my RSD started; my RSD is now internal generalized), I did not know if I should accept or refuse this surgery, that is, if the benefits of this surgery outweighted its risks. I still do not know. My orthopedic surgeon told me it was my job to decide what to do. The problem is I do not know what to decide and do.

Quote: "I've needed elbow surgery for 8 or so years, and it just isn't worth the risk to me or my docs." So you and your surgeon decided not to have your elbow surgery done. Since you did not have your elbow surgery, you were safe with your RSD, but how is your elbow doing?

I'm on time released and immediate release morphine, so it masks most of my elbow pain. My RSD pain is in my right hand/wrist/halfway up my forearm, so even if the elbow surgery worked out perfectly, I'm not likely to experience an increase in the function of my right arm anyway. I've had docs claim my RSD might improve if the elbow was fixed...which makes me think it through all over again, and go through it with my pm, and we've repeatedly decided it's just not worth the risk, and that the RSD is not related to the elbow issue. If I go into remission, and the elbow becomes the larger problem, then I'll have the surgery.

If you're going to end up in a wheelchair without the surgery, I understand you taking the risk. But I would insist on working out a plan to manage your pain meds ahead of time. Putting you through withdrawals post surgery makes zero sense and is dangerous. That could be contributing to the flares.

Quote: "Will this 8th surgery improve your function to a degree worthy of potentially exacerbating your RSD?" The problem I have, mainly with my ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament), which is stretched and non-functional, can sometimes cause knee giving-outs and falls when I walk. Can my orthopedic surgeon say "this eighth surgery (an ACL reconstruction) would improve my function to a degree worthy of potentially exacerbating my RSD?" He cannot guarantee such a result because my two previous ACL reconstructions have failed already, so it could happen again.

Did he perform the other failed surgeries? If yes, then I would not undergo surgery with him again. What are the odds of it helping?

Quote: "I had a fourth wrist surgery, that was post RSD diagnosis, and a stellate ganglion block helped keep things from flaring and spreading for me." I had femoral nerve blocks after several of my previous seven surgeries. Even though some of these blocks helped somewhat with the post-operative pain, I do not think they did prevent my RSD from flaring up and spreading.

Did the blocks work? For how long?

Thanks for sharing your experiences and information.