Hello to all - New member
 

Hello to all of you,

I am really glad that I came across this community which is very helpful for people who are suffering from back pain. The right information, which could be found here, can change someone’s fate from ending up in a wheelchair to get back to a normal life. Keeping this forum running is time consuming for administrator(s) and we are all benefiting from it. If I may suggest let’s make some donations to keep this site alive. This will be the best thank you from us to the administrator(s).

My opinion is set on ADR. It seems to me that M6 is the best disc so far; however I would appreciate your opinion and advice.

I got a recommendation from Dr. Ritter Lang for implantation of M6 at two levels; L4-L5-S1. After reading about many complications patients have been getting from the Stenum Hospital, I have excluded this option.

I was thinking that Dr. Clavel and the M6 disc were the best way to go. Due to complications that some of Dr. Clavel’s patients got lately I am undecided. Please let me know if you have some more info that could help me to choose the right surgeon and hospital.

I have back pain, feet numbness and often feet pain since my discectomy which was done in February 2008. What is the possibility for my nerve which has been pinched for so long to recover if my ADR is successful?

Your feedback will be much appreciated. Thank you.

Rad

Lately Dr. Clavel has had more reported lumbar complications on this forum. However, every surgeon has less-than-stellar outcomes. Overall, I'd say he's still a fine surgeon.

That said, do a search for Dr. Bierstedt out of Germany. Also, Dr. Dare out of England. Both work with the M6.

I'm trying to decide between Clavel and Bierstedt. Not an easy decision.

I believe you would be well advised to include Dr. Bierstedt in your final selections. You will need to forward X rays and MRI after which point you will likely receive a phone call with his recommendations. Today I visited with someone who had surgery done this past Tuesday and is doing wonderfully well. Best to you.

Dr. Clavel or Dr. Bierstedt, M6 or Freedom
 

Zenmunk/Surprised, thanks a lot.

I came to the point where I am looking for any additional info that could help me to decide probably between Dr. Clavel and Dr. Bierstedt. If something goes wrong during the surgery in Quiron hospital there are more doctors and departments that could help. I am not sure if I could get the same from the clinic where Dr. Bierstedt performs surgeries?

Post op communication looks like is much better with Dr. Bierstedt.

What is your opinion about freedom disc? Is it too early to take it into serious consideration?

I think Dr B has all that covered also, so dont stress and on the disc the freedom disc is out as long as the M6, but a newer one is the Cadisc but if i could wait i would go for 3D printing disc but thats about 5-7 years down the line as they are doing rat trials at memento

The hospital that Dr. Bierstedt uses has all bases covered if needed. I had surgery going on 7 weeks ago, 7/16/2013 with Dr. Bierstedt. There is a full ICU unit, he has a vascular surgeon on standby, and the hospital has a cardio department. It is also equipped with a high powered microscope to be used to make sure all disc material is removed, not all back surgeons have or use this during adr procedures. If you have any questions I would be willing to share my experience to date, just pm me.

clavel
 

Z

I have not seen any lately bad results from Dr. Clavel.

Stonewall,

If you take some time to search through Dr. Clavel's recent lumbar patients (who post on this site), you will find a small number with varying complications. Some have speculated that may be because of his association with Dr. Ritter-Lang. The fear is perhaps Dr. Clavel has adopted some of Ritter-Lang's assembly line approach.

I want to emphasize that this is only speculation. Every surgeon, no matter how talented and careful s/he is, will have less-than-stellar outcomes (some reported; some not reported).

So many factors go into how successful a procedure will be. Some are directly related to surgeon skill and approach; some are beyond a surgeon's control. Many times it's very hard, if not impossible, to determine if a problem was the result of surgeon incompetence.

Still, if a pattern has emerged, then it is worthy of consideration when one is trying to decide who to trust. In the end, I'm afraid it's all just an educated guess: part evidence; part intuition.

z

Zenmunk
 

Hey Zenmunk I understand your considerations. In my opinion Clavel and Bierstedt seem to really be dead even. During my research though I was never able to find out how many surgeries Clavel performs a day and how long he takes for each surgery.

I think you are prob safe with either Dr but I would just find out the above info first. As far as appearances on their websites Clavel's hospital looked a little more upscale but that's hard to say without being there. The hospital I used with Bierstedt though was by no means a clinic. It's a five story hospital with a large hospital staff. My only complaint was the food wasn't exactly the best as their wasn't enough protein for breakfast or dinner. But that could be by design because too much protein after surgery can back you up which does cause more pain at the incision site. I just had my support partner do food runs for me down at the cafeteria for extra protein. I had a two lumbar level which took a little over two hours. Good luck with your decision. I know it's hard to trust people's motives on this site. I was the same way but keep digging. Another good idea is to check google in the specific country to see what the locals are saying about each doctor. Then see if you can find someone to translate. I know it's a lot of work but you only have one back and you sure don't want to have it done again.

Gman,

Thanks for the advice. I'm following your progress since I'll probably need a M6 at L4-5. SI Joints are not the culprit. Still have to get a facet block at L4-5 to determine how much pain they are generating. Every doc I've consulted thinks it's the disc, though (and I've consulted many). Clavel said 80% - 90% sure. Bierstedt said > 90%. Saw that video of you walking which was impressive after only a few days post-op. Continued success with your progress.

z