I am a young 61 yrs old and ave undergone 3 seperate lumbar fusions in 1982,1983, and 1989. First operation really had bad outcome. The spine was so tight that the surgeon ended up cutting across the muslcles to keep the spine open. At time of surgery i was in perfect shape and I am a very fast healer, but my spine remained open 8 weeks after the surgery, and i lost 28 pounds in the 1st 10 days post surgery. This surgery caused the left sided low back pain to get worse. I have a LSTV where the S1 is a functional lumbarized segment with a large butterfly transverse process on the left side which is in contact with the top of my ilium causing a pseudoarticulation joint. 1st surgery resulted i a very solid fusion from L5 to S1/L6 to S2. 2nd surgery extended the solid fusion from L5 to L4 and also examined all of previous surgery. third surgery fused L4 to L3 due to obvious bone fragments extending upwards on the left side into the L4-L3 facet joint. 2nd & 3rd fusion surgeries were not anything like the 1st surgery (they went well and did not cause any issues as 1st surgery. As per MRI/etc imaging, not sure L4 to L3 fusion is solid.

In 1993 a left sided SI fusion was attempted as a last ditch effort and due to definitive increased left SI pain post 1st, 2nd, and 3rd lumbar fusions. The left SI fusion with hardware did not fuse. This 4th surgery was very uneventful as the 2nd, and 3rd fusion were. Duringn the SI surgery the pseduoarticualtion joint was clearly observed along with a significantly hypermobile left SI joint, and a verified solid fusion of L4 to L5 to S1/L6 to S2/sacrum. Post surgery the left sided SI joint pain continued, along with left sided top of lumbar fusion joint pain.

I have never had any true radiating or midline spine pain. Left leg pain was symptomatic from the beginning, but not radiating, nor any weakening of the left leg noted.

My assessment is that I have never had any disc issues, only a left sided SI LSTV joint issue. And that the solidly fused L4-L5-S1/L6-S2 fusion has caused the fused lumbar to exert more leveraged pain and motion of the left SI joint.

I have been under the care of a recognized Pain Clinic by Dr Richard Rauck since 1994. The pain medication result in a disabling Opiate Induced Constipation situation, along with the SI bone pain and left top of fusion L3-4 facet pain.

With all the new articles regarding LSTV's, I was hoping to get an open assessment of my situation. My career has been ruined/set-aside since 1994 which is a huge waste since it took me many years to become one of the top Petroleum Geologist/Managers in my field. Can you please advise me regarding the SI situation. I do not think i can be pain free, but in my humble opinion the LSTV & SI joint has been my inital pain sources.

I have had numerous studies, injections/blocks of my spine, and i have all my records and film studies. Please help me in whatever way you can. Please, I just want to get back to work contributing to my professional field. Regards, Daniel R Pearson