Andreen 2004

Journal/Andreen - October 3, 2004

Back with a new MRI from July 2004. She was recently in such a pain that she had to visit the acute clinic where they gave her a shot for relaxation. She spend some time in bed, though it seems that she tries to be creative, communicating with other people treated for scoliosis. She and her husband are working on a new website for medical information and chat.

She describes the most pain coming from the upper lumbar area. She is bending more and more front over during the day and it hurts a lot when she bends back all signs of the facet syndrome. No major leg pain fortunately.

The MRI shows dehydration and degeneration of the discs L2L3, L3L4. In the upper level it appears to be a synovial cyst on the right facet joint. No big annular tears. The two discs in the bottom of the spine look healthy and hydrated. No protrusion or spinal stenosis.

1. She seems to need a fusion down to L4. This would however probably be a big problem in the long run.
2. An artificial disk in the two segments is a more physiological choice. Her facet joint arthropathy is however a serious obstacle to this. We have to wait for the further possible development of those implants.
3. She is very afraid of injection therapy due to some awful experiences. Otherwise one choice would be Radio frequency denervation and IDET. The same comes for Ozone therapy.
4. She already uses the brace and tries to be active. Apart from some ups and downs the prognosis is hopeful and the pathology can be dealt with whenever in the future. As mentioned earlier a fusion must be avoided as long as possible.

Clinica Santa Elena
Dr Olof Andreen
Consultant Orthopaedic Spinal surgeon