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Old 11-18-2007, 08:23 PM #31
Brendaschoenherr Brendaschoenherr is offline
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Default Sacroliliac Joint Dysfunction

Hello,
I have been reading the threadsabout SI Dysfunction and I am happy to say that I am post SI fixation and it is 100% effective.
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Old 04-01-2008, 07:20 AM #32
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Hello,
I have been reading the threadsabout SI Dysfunction and I am happy to say that I am post SI fixation and it is 100% effective.
I underwent a left SI joint fusion in 7/06. Started having problems again after a minor fall in October 07. My orthopedist had a MRI and CT scan done as well as plain filmes and said everything looked OK. Then went to a pain specialist where an injection in the lefet SI joint showed it to be the source of my pain. I have been on long acting pain meds for the last few months and my family doc decided I should get a second opinion. I gathered up all of my recent films, etc. I didn't expect much. Five minutes after looking at my films, he siad that it clearly showed a failure of fusion, with motion of the screws detected. How could my other MD as well as the radiologists not see this? The new doc clearly showed it to me on the films as well? Next step will probably be removal of the hardware. Any thoughts?
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Old 04-02-2008, 02:12 AM #33
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Sally,

I would not be so quick to allow removal of the hardware...I had a screw removed and it did not do much for the pain...I just had injections done yesterday...I think the injections do more for the pain than hardware removal...JMO>...
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4/06 - Lumbar Fusion - L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, S1
Anterior with cages and Posterior with rods and screws.

8/17/05 - Cervical Fusion - C4-5, 5-6, 6-7 - Anterior and Posterior Fusion with plate in front and rods and screws in the rear - Corpectomy at C-4 and C-5 and microdisectomy at C6-7.

1/4/05 - Lumbar Laminectomy -L3, L4, L5, S1, S2 Obliteration of Tarlov Cyst at S2. Failed surgery!
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Old 04-02-2008, 07:50 AM #34
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I had an injectio that only seemed to flare things up and after a few weeks I really was no better. Now this isn't spinal hardware, this is pins though the sacrum and iliac. I know they are causing me pain when I walk.

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Sally,

I would not be so quick to allow removal of the hardware...I had a screw removed and it did not do much for the pain...I just had injections done yesterday...I think the injections do more for the pain than hardware removal...JMO>...
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Old 04-08-2008, 06:15 PM #35
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Hi Brendaschoenherr,

Please share who performed your surgery. I think I am going to need to have it done. I have already met with Dr. Amaral (took over for Dr. Lippitt in GA). I am not so sure about him and would like to meet with a different surgeon. Glad to hear you are doing well.
Thanks,
LCC


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Originally Posted by Brendaschoenherr View Post
Hello,
I have been reading the threadsabout SI Dysfunction and I am happy to say that I am post SI fixation and it is 100% effective.
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Old 04-08-2008, 08:28 PM #36
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Franck,
How did you manage "no weight bearing" on SI joints for 3 months? That is what scares me most about this surgery. How do you eat (sitting up is weight-bearing)...can you et up to use the bathroom? Please share.
Thanks,
LCC78

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Hello to all on this thread. Perhaps I can help by sharing my experience, although I hardly know where to begin. I haven't been closely following forums like this one since I had bilateral SI-joint fusion in August of 2004. In my case, this surgery gave me my life back! I also have had a prior bi-level lumbar posterior fusion of L4-L5 and L5-S1 in 1996, a lumbar discectomyin 1995, a spinal cord stimulator, an intrathecal morphine pump implanted in 2000, and various and sundry injections. So I have a basis to compare the trauma from my SI-joint surgery. In my case, this surgery was much less painful and difficult than my spinal fusion.

I severely injured my pelvis in an auto accident at age 19, recovered seemingly completely, then developed pain in a sciatic pattern at age 45. Was misdiagnosed with degenerative disc disease, had the above-mentioned spinal surgeries which only made my pain worse. I continued to suffer increased pain which baffled the many orthopedic and neurosurgeons who examined me over an eight-year period post-lumbar fusion surgery. They were baffled because noone thought to consider the possibility that my pain originated from my sacroiliac joints! My pain increased to the point that I had to retire from my career as a marine scientist, permanently disabled, from the chronic pain. By 2004, at age 46, I could no longer stand or sit except for very brief periods due to the severity of the pain radiating from my lumbar area to my feet. Even lieing on my back was painful due to the pressure of my body weight on my Si joints. My wonderful pain specialist at UC-San Francisco ordered a CT scan, then, which suggested SI joint degeneration. My pain doctor told me that if the degeneration was visible on a CT scan then it was really bad. She gave me diagnostic lidocaine nerve blocks into each SI joint, the gold standard test for diagnosing Si joint degeneration, and I was pain free for 6-8 hrs until the lidocaine wore off! Finally, an accurate diagnosis! I was so excited to have a rational explanation for the baffling, debilitating pain I suffered from.

I researched SI-joint fusion in medical journals and located a superb surgeon in Loveland, Colorado who is very accomplished and experienced at this form of surgery. He is fantastic. His name is Dr. Jeffrey Donner. He performed a bilateral fusion, with screws, on both of my severely degenerated Si joints, then prescribed a conservative regimen of NO weight bearing on the joints for a minimum of three months. This allows the joints to fuse properly. The screws ultimately were painful for me and 13 months after fusion surgery, I had the screws removed. This did lessen the pain. I repeat, this surgery gave me my life back. I can now walk long distances, sit for up to an hour without pain, and live a somewhat active, low-impact lifestyle. I am still in pain but at a much lower level.

I have no assocaition with Dr. Donner other than as a surgical patient. And I present my long story to offer hope to those of you who suffer with this affliction and feel hopeless at times.
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Old 04-08-2008, 08:50 PM #37
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Confused SI Joints

Just reading all the threads about the SI Joints and was wanting to know does your pelvis tilt on any of you and cause a lot of pain. My PT told me my pelvis is tilting and she put it back and the next time I go it is back out she said it was my SIjoint.I have so much pain in it that I can not sleep,sit,stand without being in pain.
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Old 04-10-2008, 11:29 PM #38
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Default Newcomer, thankful for the info

Hi to everyone - found you on a Google search and am thankful I found this thread.

My husband was injured in a car accident about a year ago and has suffered from chronic low back pain ever since. Based on layman's reading and doctor input, we think (but don't know for sure) that the pain originates in his SI joint. He hasn't had any diagnostic injections yet, let alone SI injections, so we're operating sort of on the fly here, but I have a handful of questions about the SI injections.

For those who have received the injections, are they painful to receive? Is the relief you get from them worth the pain? How long do they last before they need to be repeated? Do you have yours done under Fluro, CT, or MRI? And if you're willing to share, what does each injection session cost on average?

We're trying to manage his pain conservatively, but I don't know how much longer he can take the daily pain and disruption - if this offers relief, he may have to go this route.

Thanks for the informational reading and for any insight you can provide.
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Old 04-12-2008, 08:03 AM #39
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Originally Posted by Nandina99 View Post
My husband was injured in a car accident about a year ago and has suffered from chronic low back pain ever since. Based on layman's reading and doctor input, we think (but don't know for sure) that the pain originates in his SI joint.
For those who have received the injections, are they painful to receive? Is the relief you get from them worth the pain? How long do they last before they need to be repeated? Do you have yours done under Fluro, CT, or MRI? And if you're willing to share, what does each injection session cost on average?

We're trying to manage his pain conservatively, but I don't know how much longer he can take the daily pain and disruption - if this offers relief, he may have to go this route.

Thanks for the informational reading and for any insight you can provide.
Nandina, have you tried chiropractic or physiotherapy?
This sounds like what happens to me after doing too much lifting and twisting-gardening for instance.
Low back pain starts, then after a day or so moves a bit to one side. If it is not too bad, a long walk taking extra long strides can put it back in place, but failing that it is off to the chiro.
Happens to me all the time. Joint actually locks up. Then you get muscle spasms as it tightens all around it, so becomes VERY painful and debilitating.
Pain meds, anti-inflams, muscle relaxant and a good chiro.
Walking, if you can, is very good. On several occasions I have had to stop walking, being in a spasm, and had to return home and lie down. That's when you know it's time for the chiro.
Not sure if this is what he has, but worth a try.
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Old 04-22-2008, 07:46 AM #40
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Default SI joint problems

Well my new orthopedist that had thought he wanted to take out the pins decided that it probably would not give me the results I'm praying for. An SI joint injection reproduced the pain so definitively that they feel that more of my pain is coming from the joint and not the pins. With a failed fusion and incomplete bridging, in my mind, I am seeing pieces of bone that I know is what I feel everytime I take a step. The pins are a component though. SO it sounds like no one wants to help me even the pain management people. My family MD is prescribing longacting narcotics with breakthrough medication. I work about 6 hours a day and spend the rest of my life lying on the sofa or my bed. This sucks so bad I don't know what to do. It is so painful to move around so I just don't. I know this is not the way I want to live. I live and work at one of the finest medical schools in the southeast. The doctor I work for is a pediatric heart surgeon. He saves little babies lives with little conduits that look like cocktail straws or smaller. Yet, no one can fix ONE damn bone in my body. The new orthopedist says that the joint needs to be cleaned out and probably re-fused and no one around wants to attempt that.
My life is absolutely screwed.
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