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What Does The Following MRI Report Indicate?
Posted on
Mon, 18 Aug 2014
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Mon, 18 Aug 2014
Answered on
Tue, 9 Sep 2014
Last reviewed on
Question : Doctor,
My mother is taking medications for past 20 days for hip / leg pain. The pain was in the scale of 4/10 before medications. It got reduced to 2/10 post the medications. However, she feel very week in legs and find difficult to walk even for 10 mins. Earlier, he complaint was only the pain, but was able to walk alright.
The MRI report says the below.
1. Sacralization of L5 vertebra.
2. Bilateral spondylolysis of L4 vertebra with mild anterior listhesis of L4 over L5 vertebra with adjacent disc bulge with ligamentum flavum hypertrophy causing mild thecal sac indentation with moderate bilateral neural foraminal narrowing at L4-L5 level. Bilateral exiting L4 nerve roots are seen very close to the disc bulge.
3 'Diffuse disc bulge with minimal bilateral neural foraminal narrowing is seen in L3-L4 level.
So, the difficulty to walk is due to the issues in spine (or) due to the medications she takes now?
Should we continue the medications (or) seek for consultation?
Thanks,
XXXX
My mother is taking medications for past 20 days for hip / leg pain. The pain was in the scale of 4/10 before medications. It got reduced to 2/10 post the medications. However, she feel very week in legs and find difficult to walk even for 10 mins. Earlier, he complaint was only the pain, but was able to walk alright.
The MRI report says the below.
1. Sacralization of L5 vertebra.
2. Bilateral spondylolysis of L4 vertebra with mild anterior listhesis of L4 over L5 vertebra with adjacent disc bulge with ligamentum flavum hypertrophy causing mild thecal sac indentation with moderate bilateral neural foraminal narrowing at L4-L5 level. Bilateral exiting L4 nerve roots are seen very close to the disc bulge.
3 'Diffuse disc bulge with minimal bilateral neural foraminal narrowing is seen in L3-L4 level.
So, the difficulty to walk is due to the issues in spine (or) due to the medications she takes now?
Should we continue the medications (or) seek for consultation?
Thanks,
XXXX
Brief Answer:
Needs muscle relaxants.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
The pain that your mother is having is due to the sacralization of the L5 vertebra and the nerve root compression. The increase in the symptoms is due to the further progression of the nerve root compression in spite of the treatment.
The symptoms have not aggravated due to the treatment but these would have been more severe without the treatment.
Right now she is taking Gabapentin and Amicon which are insufficient to control the disease progression. She needs a suitable muscle relaxant in combination with a pain killer to reduce the back muscle spasm so that the pressure on the nerve roots can be reduced. Using a L-S belt will also be helpful. She can get these prescribed from her orthopedician.
Remedial exercises to strengthen the spine and lumbar traction are very important to restore normal spinal movements and muscle strength. This she can do under the guidance of a proficient physiotherapist. The main aim of exercise is to encourage mobility, reduce muscle spasm, prevent further deterioration in the muscles and speed recovery.
Taking methylcobalamin supplements will also help.
I hope this answers your query.
In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out.
Wishing you good health.
Regards.
Dr. Praveen Tayal.
For future query, you can directly approach me through my profile URL http://bit.ly/Dr-Praveen-Tayal
Needs muscle relaxants.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
The pain that your mother is having is due to the sacralization of the L5 vertebra and the nerve root compression. The increase in the symptoms is due to the further progression of the nerve root compression in spite of the treatment.
The symptoms have not aggravated due to the treatment but these would have been more severe without the treatment.
Right now she is taking Gabapentin and Amicon which are insufficient to control the disease progression. She needs a suitable muscle relaxant in combination with a pain killer to reduce the back muscle spasm so that the pressure on the nerve roots can be reduced. Using a L-S belt will also be helpful. She can get these prescribed from her orthopedician.
Remedial exercises to strengthen the spine and lumbar traction are very important to restore normal spinal movements and muscle strength. This she can do under the guidance of a proficient physiotherapist. The main aim of exercise is to encourage mobility, reduce muscle spasm, prevent further deterioration in the muscles and speed recovery.
Taking methylcobalamin supplements will also help.
I hope this answers your query.
In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out.
Wishing you good health.
Regards.
Dr. Praveen Tayal.
For future query, you can directly approach me through my profile URL http://bit.ly/Dr-Praveen-Tayal
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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