Foraminotomy

[yorkshirelad1]

has anybody had a posterior endoscopic foraminotomy? In particular for bone spurs. I could be looking at this surgery once injections have been exhausted. Would be interested in hearing from people about how they found it, did it work, and crucially what was your post op experience like, pain levels, time to recover? Thank you in advance. Please only reply if you’ve had this operation and condition.

[Alex3]

Hi,

I had this operation in April of this year. The bone spur was deemed to be pressing on a nerve exiting the foramen at L4/5. I had been in gradually increasing sciatic type pain for a few years prior, which was treated with Pregabalin, Tramadol etc.

Unfortunately I am still in about the same amount of pain, but apparently it can take up to a year for the damaged nerve to heal, so fingers crossed for the next few months.

I assume having the osteophyte removed will have stopped further increases in pain. The surgeon advised that some patients see an immediate cessation of pain; let's hope you are one of those.

ATB

Alex3

[yorkshirelad1 in reply to Alex3]

Thanks Alex. How long did it take you to recover in terms of moving around / doing day to day things / sleeping / walk dog etc. cheers and hope things ease for you soon

[Alex3 in reply to yorkshirelad1]

My initial recovery was delayed by a tear to the dura when the bone spur was removed. Apparently this is not uncommon. This meant I had to stay in bed for an extra 7 days to allow the dura repair to heal. Following this, it took a few weeks to fully recover. During this time I had weekly sessions with the physio which were very helpful.

[Mitch48]

Hi there,

Just as a comparison, I’ve had 3 open surgery foraminotomies L3 - L5 (plus 3 laminectomies, 2 discectomies and a posterior Interbody fusion) for Impending Cauda Equina and Spondylolisthesis (2 vertebrae). This was over 2 1/2 years ago that I had emergency surgery and I’m still having awful lightening electric shock type nerve pains in my legs & feet with numerous other symptoms. My neurosurgeon said earlier this year that the nerves are still irritated.

I’ve had two ACDF’s, one whereby the C6/7 nerve became compressed again by an osteophyte only months after surgery causing additional radiculopathy down an arm that is badly affected by pain & muscle loss etc. I been told by numerous doctors that additional surgery isn’t performed once the disc has been removed, so your post is very interesting.

Good luck

Mitch.