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What Does My CT Scan Report Indicate?
I had a CT done to check the condition of the hardware from a spinal fusion on L5-S1. The hardware wasn t broken. However CT showed other problems with my spine, but wasn t really discussed with me much, which left me terribly concerned and confused. Can you please help me to understand the findings ? The results were : left paracentral, posterolateral protrusion and spurring at T11-12 with molds thecal sac compression. At T12-L1, there is a central protrusion. At L1-2, some posterior spurring and mild diffuse bulge. At L2-3, minimal central bulge At L3-4, minimal central bulge and limbus vertebra along the anterior superior end plate L4, a chronic-type finding At L4-5 there is a very slight retrolisthesis of L4 on L5 with central protrusion, facet degenerative change, mild canal stenosis. There is also significant metal hardware artifact from the L5-S1 fusion. Laminotomy changes L5-S1 with intervertebral spacer in good position. Transpedicular plate and screw device present. There is some minimal posterior spurring and disc bulge. I am in constant pain which has left me almost bedridden at the age of 35. I can only stand for 10 minutes before the pain gets to an extreme level, sitting up is limited as well to no more than 20 minutes before my pain levels are severely high. Walking short distances is ok, but any long walks are extremely painful to the point of barely being able to breathe. I m on very strong pain meds around the clock, but they do very little to bring my pain levels down.
Wed, 13 Mar 2019
Hello,
Sorry to hear about the difficulties you are facing. As per the CT scan report it suggests there is lot of muscle weakness due to which there is degenerative changes in the intervertebral disc of the spinal column.
Some disc are protruding backwards and some in the side. The major one is the retrolisthesis.
Now the pain symptom which mentioned are corelating with the diagnostic procedure performed so the pain has to be high.
I would diagnose this as - spondylolisthesis, degenerative disc disease with LBA.
The pain you are having is mainly due to the facet joints, here the joint receptors are irritated due to the friction of the other facet joint.
Since you are taking strong pain medication and have not much improvement I will advise you to start physiotherapy along with the medication to have a double effect.
Physiotherapy will include the TENS therapy, Therapeutic ultrasound therapy, and exercise. Once the pain level drops to 5 on the VAS scale the exercise should begin.
If exercise is not performed than the muscles will become weak at the spinal and core region.
This may not allow your body to come out of the pain. Research studies have shown that a combination of drug therapy with physiotherapy have positive outcomes.
Also in my clinical practice of over 12 years, I have always provided a good assessment of the case in detail to understand the underlying pathologies and complaints provided to work behind.
With the combination of drug therapy and physiotherapy, there is a positive outcome score.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Take care
Regards,
Jay Indravadan Patel, Physical Therapist or Physiotherapist
Sorry to hear about the difficulties you are facing. As per the CT scan report it suggests there is lot of muscle weakness due to which there is degenerative changes in the intervertebral disc of the spinal column.
Some disc are protruding backwards and some in the side. The major one is the retrolisthesis.
Now the pain symptom which mentioned are corelating with the diagnostic procedure performed so the pain has to be high.
I would diagnose this as - spondylolisthesis, degenerative disc disease with LBA.
The pain you are having is mainly due to the facet joints, here the joint receptors are irritated due to the friction of the other facet joint.
Since you are taking strong pain medication and have not much improvement I will advise you to start physiotherapy along with the medication to have a double effect.
Physiotherapy will include the TENS therapy, Therapeutic ultrasound therapy, and exercise. Once the pain level drops to 5 on the VAS scale the exercise should begin.
If exercise is not performed than the muscles will become weak at the spinal and core region.
This may not allow your body to come out of the pain. Research studies have shown that a combination of drug therapy with physiotherapy have positive outcomes.
Also in my clinical practice of over 12 years, I have always provided a good assessment of the case in detail to understand the underlying pathologies and complaints provided to work behind.
With the combination of drug therapy and physiotherapy, there is a positive outcome score.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Take care
Regards,
Jay Indravadan Patel, Physical Therapist or Physiotherapist
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