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Old 04-07-2022, 09:43 AM
phillyjoe phillyjoe is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 286
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So let’s see, maybe I can give some helpful opinion on your questions-maybe not.

As you can see from my signature, I had 3 level M6 with Dr Clavel almost 6 years ago. I think he is a great doctor, a very honest and good man, and I found him highly responsive to my post-surgery issues. He does great placement of cervical devices (not sure if he is so good at lumbar), and he will take all the time needed to answer all your questions. He helped me when no US doc would do anything but fusion. Following my surgery, my arm pain was gone, I could use my right hand again, I got my life back. I was able to return to work and finish out my career to normal retirement age. I thank God at least once a week for what Dr Clavel, as well as his Pt and support team, did for me.

BUT, he maybe too optimistic. My bottom disc has fused due to HO. For reasons I can’t explain, Dr Clavel kept telling me it was still mobile, causing me to chase more and more CT’s and US docs trying to figure out why I had problems with severe neck and shoulder pain when lying down at night. Perhaps he saw slight movement which US docs didn’t see. I am still trying to figure out how to address this issue, but have been sidelined with other, unrelated, medical issues. I am old, 66yo, so things happen.

All that said, please search my postings and you might find useful things. Dr Clavel did personally tell me years ago that he reversed a fusion into a successful ADR. I was impressed and wrote here about it. But he also told me it isn’t possible in all cases. He also told me that HO is likely to happen over time to many people, but for most, it would not cause problems. I loaded an article about that on this site. Yes, I took NSAIDs for a long time, due to a head crash I had just 2 weeks after my surgery, and it still did not prevent HO. You can read about that crash on this site, I had to have 8 staples to put the back of my head together….but the M6’s didn’t move out of place.

No doc will tell you that you might not be worse after surgery. My unscientific poll is that 1/3 are much better, 1/3 are the same, 1/3 are worse. But if surgery is needed, sooner is better, or for sure you will get worse. 2 of my 3 are good, and except for inability to sleep because of the pain, I am happy with the result. It is a lifelong commitment to staying fit however, as you are never as good as new. I think that as levels of replacement increase, chances go down. Single level people do great.

I think the M6 might have been oversold, but all discs have problems. The cases of bone deterioration or disc failure exist but I don’t know how widespread. I recall that there was a change in design of M6C early on, which no one seems to acknowledge, that seemed to have made it more secure in the attachment of the plates to the core. In the US there is a cervical disc replacement Facebook group that has many postings of failure of the Mobi C, with my conclusion being that if placement of that device isn’t perfect, there is a failure risk. Texas Back Institute is now using M6 and Simplify-because Simplify can allow mri’s. Please let me know if I can help you more. All this is only my uneducated opinion, so use it as you will. I am not a doctor.
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Pre Surgery:
C3-C4:Mild disc osteophytes. Mild-moderate right facet arthrosis. Mild right foraminal stenosis.
C4-C5:Midline central disc protrusion, significant. Mild canal stenosis.
C5-C6:Moderate disc osteophytes. Mild-moderate canal stenosis. Moderate-severe bilateral foraminal stenosis.
C6-C-7:Mild-moderate disc osteophytes. Mild canal stenosis. Moderate left and moderate-severe right foraminal stenosis.
June 29,2016-3 level M6 (C4-C7) Dr. Clavel Barcelona

Last edited by Harrison; 04-10-2022 at 04:51 PM. Reason: Added paragraph breaks
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