Patient Avoids Spinal Fusion with DLDR Laser Surgery
Summary
A patient from South Carolina suffered from debilitating back pain for nearly 10 years and was facing a spinal fusion and a spinal cord stimulator implant when she discovered Deuk Spine Institute through a friend's recommendation on Facebook. Rather than undergo invasive fusion surgery, she traveled to Florida where Dr. Ara Deukmedjian performed the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® a minimally invasive spine surgery to treat two herniated discs and a vertebral slippage. Less than 24 hours after her procedure, she was completely pain-free, walking 20 minutes without difficulty, and looking forward to returning home to South Carolina to get back to gardening and the life she loves.
Transcript
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: I'm here with one of my lovely patients from South Carolina.
Patient: Yes.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And you've got a smile on your face.
Patient: I do. I do have one. It's wonderful.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: No pain today at all. And you had back pain for almost 10 years on and off, and really bad for the last five years. Right. Is that back pain still there?
Patient: No. Gone. Gone. No pain in my legs. Walked 20 minutes last night. Amazing. I couldn't walk 10 seconds.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And why did you come all the way to Florida to Deuk Spine Institute to have your back fixed?
Patient: I was up for a fusion. That's not what I wanted. I have a friend I met 10 years ago in Michigan. I saw it on Facebook and called her and talked to her, and she gave me a very, very good report of you.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Oh, so I treated your friend 10 years ago.
Patient: No, you treated her just in the past few weeks.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: I see. And she recommended us.
Patient: She did.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And you came here.
Patient: I did.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And you had faith that we would fix your back.
Patient: I did. I had prayed about this and prayed about it, and God led me to you. I truly, truly believe that.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: I agree. Did the spine surgeon that recommended fusion — did they talk to you about laser surgery?
Patient: No. I'd never heard of laser surgery before.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And they told you you had to have a fusion, didn't they?
Patient: They did. I was going to try a stimulator. I was actually scheduled to try a stimulator in the next few weeks. I'm not going to have to do that.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: You don't need that anymore, right?
Patient: I don't have to do that.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: A stimulator. Stimulators and fusions — that's how they make all that money. And you, the patient, suffered. So we kept you from having to have that done.
Patient: I did.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: How is life going to be now with your new back?
Patient: It's going to be wonderful. It's going to be wonderful. I can do what I want to. Well, not yet, but I can pretty much do what I want to and get back to my life. Gardening. My husband told me — right, gardening. You like gardening, don't you?
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: He said, "I feel like I got my new wife back."
Patient: So I love gardening. I can't wait till spring. I can start doing a little bit.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: I just talked to your husband, and he seems very happy. And that's something that a lot of people don't think about — the impact on their spouse of having chronic back pain. Well, you can see we had two discs that we had to fix, and you had a slippage of your bones. And that's probably why they told you that you had to have a fusion. But you don't have to have a fusion for those slippages. We can fix it with the laser. You can see that we used the laser in there to clean out those herniations. And your surgery went perfect. That was just yesterday — less than 24 hours ago.
Patient: Exactly.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Are you on any pain medicines?
Patient: No. I took some Tylenol about 4 o'clock this morning. I don't have anything. No pain. Yeah.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: And you have an itty-bitty little cut on your back from the laser surgery.
Patient: A little bitty.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Anything you want to say to your family and friends out there?
Patient: I just want to say thank you for your prayers. I know this is where I was supposed to be. God led me here, and I know that.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Amen. Amen. You travel safe, okay?
Patient: Okay.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian: Back to South Carolina.
The Better Way: Deuk Laser Disc Repair® (DLDR)
This patient was treated at Deuk Spine Institute for two herniated discs and degenerative spondylolisthesis — a slippage of the vertebral bones — using minimally invasive laser spine surgery. Rather than undergoing a spinal fusion or spinal cord stimulator implant as previously recommended, Dr. Ara Deukmedjian used laser technology to remove disc herniations and correct the slippage through a tiny incision, allowing the patient to walk pain-free less than 24 hours after her procedure.
