Fibrin Story

[rcbasketball]

I am part of clinical trial in Los Angeles I was given fibrin injections at two levels. It sounded like a great idea and from what I read from Sean and others I was thrilled to have the opportunity and it was free. After the 5-6 week pain period following the procedure I found no relief at all. I am exactly the same as I was prior to the procedure. An ex athlete with a low back problem that has impacted my life in every way I was hopeful but am now nearly 5 months from the procedure and must conclude it did not work on me. Not even in a small way.

The discussions with the two doctors who are conducting the trial have varied. The one that did the injections who is not a surgeon still says they work and it will help many people in the future. The surgeon who is part of the trial says he has seen 5 or 10 fibrin patients most got none or little relief and he doesnt believe it works. I have read other people who have had success. Perhaps a certain type of disc problem would do better with fibrin than another type of disc problem. For me with flat discs that have anular tears I didnt work. Maybe I should consider hgh (which I thought all along might help) .

[Harrison]

RC, so sorry about your outcome. It's very thoughtful of you to post and share your insights -- and disappointments.

If you are amenable, could you tell us more about the condition of the discs that were treated with the fibrin injection? How diseased, dessicated? It sounds like your discs had advanced degeneration, so you may have missed that window of opportunity of healing. Is this a reasonable guess?

Some time ago, I posted the clinical trial inclusion criteria for the fibrin study. I'd like to revisit that again as my curiosity is piqued.

[longroadahead]

I had 3 levels done and with Fibrin and have not had sucess either. In a few more months a year will have gone by. Maybe something will happen by then....

[rcbasketball]

My degenerative disc disease is advanced. L3-4 display anular tears and L3-4 4-5 were postive in last years discogram. I fit the criteria for the fibrin injections. One of which was specific pain to your back without very little referred pain down the leg.

I have had back problems since the 1980's but always exercised my way back to health. In 2006 I had a bad incident - flare up that basically never went away. According to Dr. Robert Wadkins a conservative and very well repsected surgeon, I am a perfect canidate for ADR as I have no lumbar facet arthritis or stenosis. Even my PT's say have the disc replacement surgery. The fibrin might work on someone whose problems are less severe or in the early stages. Of course those people might recover anyway. I cant speak for anyone but myself but I had 0 improvement from the fibrin and was happy to get back to where I was before the procedure.

As I continue to get worse I am thinking of HGH as one last thing to try before ADR. My concern about ADR is I have compromised hips . One has an impingment and torn labrum the other was repaired and now has narrowing 50% - essentially arthritis. I am also diabetic and fear healing might be compromised with any surgery. I am pretty sure fibrin is not a fabulous treatment. It takes 5-6 weeks to recover from the procedure and to date I have not heard of any real significant success stories.

[Linda]

Sunday Morning, May 8th, 2011, at 8:00am Central Standard Time there will be a program called CBS Sunday Morning" with Charles Osgood, that will be discussing important good facts about Pauza Disc Sealant. I have had the procedure twice with some success. I have a lot of spine issues, though, so I am not sure I am the best person to evaluate this procedure. I can put you in touch with Dr. Pauza if you have questions about the procedure. My email is l.roberts1@verizon.net I do know of a couple of people that got considerable relief from the sealant and were able to return to work and one to sports. The one that returned to sports had a virgin back and is considerably younger than me, however.
I am sorry the procedure did not work for you. It has at least allowed me to be off the Duragesic patches and I rarely have to take a pain pill now. Am I pain free? No way, but I am better.

Best wishes,
Linda

[JKDE302]

There is nothing worse for your back then basketball...