Summary
A patient from Idaho with a prior lumbar spinal fusion was experiencing new pain at the disc level above the fusion and was told by local doctors that the only option was to extend the existing fusion upward. Refusing to go down that path and determined to find an alternative, he connected with a man at his gym in Idaho whose brother had been treated successfully at Deuk Spine Institute. After a seamless virtual Zoom consultation with Dr. Deukmedjian, he traveled to Florida for the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® on the problematic disc above his fusion. The morning after surgery the years-long spasming he had been experiencing upon waking was gone for the first time, and the pain he came to address had significantly diminished. With the patient already planning to return in the future for cervical spine treatment as well.
Transcript
Nikki: You had a Deuk Laser Disc Repair® yesterday?
Patient: Yes, I did.
Nikki: How are you feeling?
Patient: I’m feeling much better. Yesterday, of course, the spasming from the procedure. It’s mitigated quite a bit this morning and I’m feeling much better. And the pain that I came here to get rid of it seems. I mean, there’s a tinge of it just reminding me, but it’s not to the significance it was nearly.
Nikki: When did you notice that?
Patient: This morning, when I woke up. And interestingly, when I woke up and got out of bed and other than the spasming from the procedure. The normal spasming I’ve been getting the last several years, I didn’t get. So I’m feeling really, really good right now.
Nikki: So why did you choose Deuk Spine Institute?
Patient: Well, I live in Idaho and there weren’t very many alternatives there. I have a fusion in my lower spine and this was above the fusion, and they wanted… the alternative was to extend the fusion. And I didn’t intend to do that. I’ll have to go to my skull, you know. So I decided I would seek alternatives. And I met a guy in the gym in Idaho who was here and his brother was here and they had great results. And he turned me on to the clinic. I had a Zoom consultation. It was fantastic. It was seamless. I felt very good after that Zoom review and I made arrangements to come here.
Nikki: So what’s life going to be like once this rehabilitation period ends?
Patient: I hope not only back to normal where I was, but back to quality of life — quality of life without the pain.
Nikki: Yes. Is there anything you want to say to your friends and family out there?
Patient: I recommend Deuk Spine Institute. And sadly, I’ll probably be coming back for my neck unfortunately in the near future. Which isn’t in very good shape according to many doctors now, and confirmed by Dr. Deuk. I thank you, Dr. Deuk. You’re gifted, and it’s incredible that you’re using that gift to help people like you are. It’s quite impressive. Hopefully you just keep on going as long as you can, because you’ve got a gift — a God given gift.
Nikki: Thank you very much.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair At Deuk Spine Institute
This patient underwent the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® at Deuk Spine Institute for a disc herniation at the level immediately above an existing lumbar spinal fusion. A classic presentation of adjacent segment disease, in which the disc above a fusion experiences accelerated wear and eventual breakdown. Rather than extending the fusion hardware further up the spine as local surgeons recommended, Dr. Deukmedjian used a minimally invasive laser endoscopic approach to repair the damaged disc in an outpatient procedure. Preserving the patient’s natural spine, avoiding additional fusion hardware, and relieving the years-long morning spasming that had been a daily occurrence. The Deuk Laser Disc Repair® requires no hospitalization and no narcotic pain medication, and the patient’s process began with a convenient virtual Zoom consultation and MRI review with Dr. Deukmedjian. Patients with pain above or below a prior fusion are encouraged to explore whether the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® or Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® can address their adjacent segment pain without extending existing hardware.