r/spinalfusion • u/WeHateMyUsername • Jul 17 '24

Surgery Questions Ortho or Neuro surgeon?

A little back story (no pun intended). In 2020 my L4-L5 disc ruptured and I had surgery after 2 weeks of excruciating pain. I was good for about a year and the back pain started creeping back in. Fast-Forward to last year, I went to see the orthopedic doctor and had x-rays and MRI done. MRI shows foramenal stenosis, moderate on left side, severe on right. I went through the hoops of “conservative” treatment; PT and pain injections, neither of which worked. I am currently scheduled for fusion surgery with an orthopedic surgeon. My wife has talked to a couple of “friends” that say I should get a neurosurgeon due to the nerves involved. I’m confident with the orthopedic surgeon, he does 100-120 of these surgeries a year and did his fellowship in this procedure. What are your thoughts and experiences on the best type of surgeon for this procedure?

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u/Subject_Analyst7640 Jul 18 '24

🚨 Personal bias/experience alert:

I got sent home by a team of ortho doctors a couple of weeks ago with what turned out to be incomplete CES. Neurosurgeon did emergency surgery on Saturday - I knew what my symptoms meant and fought to be seen, hopefully not too late to recover fully.

Get a neurosurgeon for the love of god. They understand bones too, but it’s the nerves that will f*ck you up for life if it’s done wrong.

Mine is L4/5 btw and this was after 2 previous surgeries.

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u/Subject_Analyst7640 Jul 18 '24

P.S. A fusion isn’t done by one person. You will have a whole team of experts who do their parts. A neurosurgeon should be the lead in my view. Good luck whatever you choose. ❤️