Summary
A retired Florida resident had been living with progressively worsening lower back and leg pain since a motorcycle accident in his 20s. Trying acupuncture, acupressure, spinal decompression, chiropractic care, and spending five years on Vicodin that only masked the pain. When his leg suddenly became too painful to walk on, he was referred to Deuk Spine Institute by a local hospital. Coincidentally located just one mile from his home. Dr. Deukmedjian removed one of the largest foraminal disc herniations he had encountered. Which was crushing the L3 nerve root and had been driving the patient’s blood pressure up chronically and also performed the Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® for facet joint pain. The moment the herniation was removed, the patient’s blood pressure dropped 30 points on the table. The following morning he woke up feeling like he hadn’t felt in 30 years, slept soundly without pillow support for the first time in years, and was walking tall with no pain medication whatsoever.
Transcript
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Good morning. It’s February 17th, 2023. Dr. Deukmedjian here at Deuk Spine Institute. And I’m sitting here with a gentleman who was referred to us by one of our local hospitals. He was suffering from a herniated disc in his lower back and he had a most unusual herniation. It’s called a foraminal disc herniation, meaning that it’s off to the side. Almost too far off to the side but just far enough to catch the nerve and give him some serious grief with his back and his leg. And he’s here today, one day after surgery. As a matter of fact, 24 hours ago you had your surgery.
Patient: I did.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: How are you feeling?
Patient: I feel like I haven’t felt in 30 years. I hurt my back in my 20s in a motorcycle accident. They wanted to do surgery right away then and I refused. And I had lived with progressively degenerative disc disease. I’ve been through every single thing: acupuncture, acupressure, spinal decompression, chiropractors and nothing was stunning. I was on Vicodin for five years, which was terrible masking only. All of a sudden, a couple weeks ago, my leg. I couldn’t walk. It was just excruciating pain shooting down my leg. And it’s okay. It’s incredible how I feel. It’s… it’s a miracle. I have my life back.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You do. We went in endoscopically and we took out an absolutely gigantic herniation. One of the biggest ones that I’ve seen in a long time. So there was a very good reason for you to have so much pain. It was resting on your nerve and it was crushing your L3 nerve root. So you can see in the video how big it was. You can also see how small the incision was. And we didn’t have to do metal, fusion, laminectomies, or microdiscectomies; which are all destructive procedures.
Patient: So I just want to recommend if you have back problems, get down here. Check out Deuk Spine Institute. It’s just been a miracle for me. Unfortunately the insurance isn’t covering it but do what you can to get it done. You’ll think so.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Let’s talk about that. Is it worth it to you?
Patient: I’m very much willing to. I would have sold a kidney to get my back to feel like it is right now. But luckily I didn’t have to. I was fortunate enough we could do it. I just highly recommend it.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Well, someday we’re hoping the insurances are going to more consistently cover the procedure. It’s ridiculous that it’s not.
Patient: It’s just so minimally invasive. I’m less than 24 hours and I’m Walking Tall, feeling good like I haven’t felt in 20 years. It’s just a crime that the insurance companies think this is experimental or whatever they want to call it because they just don’t want to pay.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: That’s right.
Patient: Do what you can do. Do what you got to do. Take a mortgage out on your house whatever you got to do… do it. Because you won’t regret it. You won’t. The people here it’s just amazing. This place is just amazing.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: What kind of problems were you having before your surgery?
Patient: I couldn’t. I used to play golf quite often. I was only now playing nine holes once a week. I couldn’t walk with my wife. We couldn’t take long walks at all. I retired and moved to Florida to live that life and it was horrible for me because it was just so much continual back pain. Because besides the surgery yesterday, I also had the… I’m not sure what it’s called
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: The Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® for your facets.
Patient: Amazing. Amazing. My lower back my shoulders are back. I’m standing tall. Walking tall. So both options really just did it.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: I think you’re bringing up a great point many patients have more than one problem. They have the facet joint pain, which you had and we treated with the Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy®, and that’s gone. And then they have the pinched nerve from a herniated disc, which requires surgery on the disc which you had yesterday.
Patient: And I’m not on pain pills. Nothing. I woke up because I slept so good last night nothing. I didn’t need pillows between my legs to keep the pain back or wake my wife up every two minutes because I’m in agony. It’s all that was gone. Gone. Back to normal.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Yes. And you will do what I tell you to do for the recovery period for the next year?
Patient: I will not let this happen again. Please.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Oh the hospital referred you to us. But they gave you two referrals?
Patient: The first referral didn’t answer the phone, and the second referral was this place. Which is literally a mile from my home. The coincidence is incredible. I live a mile from here. It was just amazing.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Well, the hospital sent you to us, but we didn’t do your surgery in the hospital, did we?
Patient: No. We did it outpatient. Yesterday. And I was home yesterday afternoon. I had a little bit of pain when I left here, a little dizzy from the anesthesia. Took a nice three-hour nap, woke up at six o’clock last night and I was just amazed at how good I felt.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: So how long was your recovery after the surgery?
Patient: A couple of hours. I stood in here and the only reason I didn’t go home earlier is because I still was kind of woozy from the anesthesia. I heard myself on the film, moaning. And it seems like they had to and then he makes a nice comment about my snoring.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You were snoring. You were snoozing. You were getting great sleep. That was probably the best sleep you’d had in a long time.
Patient: Exactly.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: One more thing that was quite interesting about your surgery. Chronic pain causes blood pressure to go up and stay up. And so when we pulled the herniation out. The really big one as soon as it came out, the anesthesiologist said, “Your blood pressure just went back to normal.” It dropped 30 points.
Patient: Yes. 30 points. Yeah. And I’ve had some minimal high blood pressure for a while. And it’s all been toward pain. That’s right.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Living with this pain. And you don’t have to live with pain. There are fixes out there. This is the place to be.
Patient: I can’t say it enough.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Oh, thank you so much. And congratulations.
Patient: Thank you for having the faith and getting it done. Thank you.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Enjoy yourself.
Patient: I will.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair® & Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® at Deuk Spine Institute
This patient underwent the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® for a massive foraminal disc herniation crushing the L3 nerve root. One of the largest herniations Dr. Deukmedjian had encountered and the Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® for facet joint pain, both performed in a single outpatient visit at Deuk Spine Institute. The foraminal herniation positioned at the far lateral edge of the disc space. Had been causing severe nerve pain and was also driving chronic hypertension: when the herniation was removed during surgery, the patient’s blood pressure dropped 30 points immediately on the operating table. After 30 years of pain management, five years on Vicodin, and every conservative treatment imaginable, the patient woke up the following morning completely pain-free with no narcotic medication. Sleeping through the night without interruption for the first time in decades. While insurance coverage for the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® remains inconsistent, patients who have exhausted all other options are encouraged to submit their MRI for a complimentary MRI review and virtual consultation with Dr. Deukmedjian at Deuk Spine Institute to determine whether they are candidates for this life-changing procedure.