Summary
A patient who traveled from England by way of Canada had a herniated disc at C6-7 causing neck pain, arm pain, numbness, and tingling. He met with neurosurgeons in Buffalo and in Canada, but felt the risks of fusion outweighed the benefits. After searching online, he chose the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® at Deuk Spine Institute because it was non-invasive and carried little downside. Dr. Deukmedjian removed herniated fragments sitting on the nerve through a 4mm incision. The next day the patient had no pain, numbness, or tingling in his arm, and he looked forward to getting back on his boat and spending time with his family.
Transcript
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: I’m here with one of my patients who traveled from England, through Canada eventually, to get here at Deuk Spine Institute yesterday for his surgery. You had the endoscopic Deuk Laser Disc Repair®. We can see your incision, four millimeters, just tiny, and we fixed your C6-7 disc, which was herniated. What kind of problems were you having from the herniated disc at C6-7?
Patient: Neck pain, arm pain, numbness, tingling, just a lot of discomfort from it.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Do you still have that pain today?
Patient: No, it’s gone. I have no pain today. I have no numbness or tingling in my arm, which was the major thing for me. Every time I moved my arm or I was leaning for something, it would tingle. It’s just not a nice feeling.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: So you happy?
Patient: Oh yeah, very happy.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: I think when we talked one time, you’re a Formula One fan, is that correct?
Patient: Big fan, yes. I know your son is in F3.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: He’s decided to forego racing and go to Princeton instead. I actually saw that. I was following him, and he ran some races in F3 this year and then just decided not to.
Patient: What are your thoughts on that?
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: I have mixed feelings. I think he’s the most talented driver to ever come out of the United States, but his feeling is he’s too far behind. If you look at his days in a car, he had 40, 45 days in the car his whole life. He’s going up against drivers being groomed by the Ferrari Academy, who’ve got 400-plus days in the car. The gap to catch up, I think he’s right, is too much. He was about a second off the pace at the F3 test in Spain, and the British team that wanted him, Carlin, felt he could make it up, but he had doubts and decided he just wants to go to school and hopefully become a doctor.
Patient: Good for him. I agree. I had the same decision to make when I was his age for soccer, and I chose university as well, so it doesn’t surprise me. And look at you, you’re helping people.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Yes, I’m very happy with my choice, and hopefully he will be as well. So what are you going to do now that you don’t have pain anymore?
Patient: Hopefully I’m going to be able to resume a bit more normal living. I bought a boat last year which I really couldn’t get out on that much, so I want to get on my boat in the summer and do good things. Do some fishing. I take my kids out tubing and stuff. I just like to go sit on the boat.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Now, you had a choice to do more invasive surgery like fusion. Why did you choose the laser disc repair?
Patient: I met a neurosurgeon in Buffalo and I met with a neurosurgeon in Canada, and I just found the risks, the downside, certainly outweighed the upside. Then I obviously Googled, looking for stuff online, and I found you. I decided because it was so non-invasive. I don’t mean to say this in a bad way, but the money’s the money. I just felt it was a better option, because if it works, fabulous, there’s no real downside. That’s the reason I went with Deuk, compared with paying roughly the same amount, if not more, for the fusion, where the risks and downside were just, I’m sorry, certainly outweighed the plus side for me.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: I’ve been doing the cervical Deuk Laser Disc Repair® with the laser, cleaning out the herniation and the tear, for 16 years, and we’ve not had a single complication from the surgery on the neck, so it’s very safe as long as it’s done well. Everything went really well for you. You can see we were removing the herniations in your neck off of the nerve. In your case we had a really good view of the lateral side of the spinal cord and the nerve coming off. You can see the dura, the white stuff, stained a little blue, but there were a lot of herniated fragments sitting on that nerve and we got them all out.
Patient: I bought myself some popcorn last night and watched that.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You watched it last night. That’s great. Anything you want to tell your fans out there?
Patient: Hey, he’s a good guy. They’ve got a great operation there, great team, and I highly recommend it. I really do.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Thank you so much. Well, listen, enjoy boating and your family and everything else. Congratulations.
Patient: Thank you.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You’re welcome.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair® at Deuk Spine Institute
This patient underwent the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® for a herniated disc at C6-7 at Deuk Spine Institute, treating neck pain, arm pain, numbness, and tingling. Dr. Deukmedjian worked endoscopically through a 4mm incision and removed herniated fragments pressing on the nerve, in place of the cervical fusion other surgeons had discussed. His arm symptoms were gone the next day. Patients considering fusion can submit their MRI for a complimentary MRI review and virtual consultation with Dr. Deukmedjian.