Help! Any info on Dascor vs. Fusion?

[ZorroSF]

well from what little I know Dascor is much more invasive than this;

http://losangelesspineinstitute.com/...generation.htm

Here's someone who had Dascor. Not sure if he's still around:

http://adrsupport.org/eve/personal?x...e&u=5941052081

[kimmers]

Johnny,

Good luck with surgery. I hope it all goes well.
As far as some of your questions, I had ADR and live in California.
My ADR at L4/5 is working great. Just got my six month x-rays the other day.
I hope the DASCOR works the same for you and you are soon on the road to recovery.
And Oh, Yes. I have battled my insurance company and continue to protest and spread the word about how they won't cover whatever is deemed by them to be experimental/investigational.
See my post on Insurance Hell. And OBAMA, too.

See you on the other side,

Kimmers

[Terry]

Johnny:

May God and a good surgeon go with you. We will see you on the other side. Please let us know how everything goes.

Terry Newton

[CindyLou]

Johnny, does sound like you are now in an emergency situation with your pain. I hope and pray that your surgery will resolve the tremendous pain that you are experiencing. We're pulling for you all the way. And, welcome to the forum.

[Johnny Vegas]

Update: Sahuaro-I have given my 3rd shot at PT 4 weeks and is has not worked well at all. I can't sit or stand longer than several minutes! I cannot be out of work any longer than 3 months or they will automatically can me (maybe a good thing?!). So I have to try and get some results now, aka surgery scheduled September 30th (Dascor).
Linda-Could you tell us what Fibrin is?
Zorro-Cell regeneration would be great if it was here and now! (Their study is closed)
Kimmers-I am already getting my boxing gloves on for the upcoming insurance fight! OBAMA
Thanks Terry and everyone for the well wishes and suggestions, I really appreciate it.

Johnny

[Linda]

Johnny,
Here is some info that Harrison posted on my thread: (Dr. Pauza's contact info is over there too)
quote:
Spinalrestoration.com


Thanks Linda, this is fascinating, particularly this description:

http://spinalrestoration.com/products/biologx.html

Please read this carefully:

BIOSTAT BIOLOGX® Fibrin Sealant

Nature's Healing Matrix™

BIOSTAT BIOLOGX® Fibrin Sealant is a biologic sealant and adhesive comprised of highly purified human fibrinogen and thrombin, the two essential blood proteins involved in the formation of a fibrin clot. The Biostat® Delivery Device has been specifically designed to mix and deliver these components to painful internal disruptions within the disc where they react to form a dense fibrin matrix. The resulting fibrin sealant is essentially identical to the naturally occurring fibrin matrix which the body forms during the earliest stages of wound healing.

Natural Soft Tissue Healing Process

Normal soft tissue healing occurs through a series of intertwined processes. Throughout the cascading process there are events associated with each phase that stimulate the following phases.

The first stage of tissue repair occurs at the time of injury and involves bleeding. The purpose of bleeding is to provide regenerative and inflammatory cells and assist in the cleansing of the wound.

Bleeding halts when components in blood plasma contact damaged tissues. This process initiates blood coagulation and the formation of a fibrin clot. The fibrin clot seals the wound and provides scaffolding upon which cells build new tissues.

In the inflammatory phase, bacteria and damaged tissue debris are removed. This process releases factors that attract cells involved in the proliferation phase.

The proliferation phase is characterized by angiogenesis (formation of blood vessels) and nerve growth. These newly formed blood vessels also support the recruitment of tissue repair cells and provide nutrition to support their function.

In the tissue repair phase cells begin to break down the fibrin clot and replace it with a new repair material called granulation tissue.

The final phase of wound healing, tissue remodeling, involves the replacement of granulation repair tissue with stronger and more highly organized scar tissue.

Impaired Healing Of Damaged Disc Tissues

The human intervertebral disc has very little blood supply. As a result the first two critical phases of the soft tissue healing cascade are impaired and damaged discs often do not heal well.

Role of BIOSTAT BIOLOGX Fibrin Sealant

Spinal Restoration will be conducting an FDA regulated clinical trial to determine if application of BIOSTAT BIOLOGX Fibrin Sealant to the disc may provide pain relief for patients suffering from chronic discogenic pain. Application of BIOSTAT BIOLOGX Fibrin Sealant may provide pain relief by sealing off annular fissures from inflammatory substances contained in the disc nucleus. Application of BIOSTAT BIOLOGX Fibrin Sealant will also lay down a dense fibrin matrix which could support the natural soft tissue healing process in the disc

[dylan]

jonny-

for me a fusion would have been the last resort

I discussed a different method - that had similarities to cell regeneration with Dr. regan. It was called nucore. It is an injectable hydrogel which has sealing properties and takes place of the nucleus.

Nucore sounded great, but it did not address the problem of reduced height in my L5-S1. The reduced height was causing the nerve impingement and was my main complaint.

One great things about dascor is that it is a balloon. It is inflated with liquid polyurethane under pressure with sensors in the pump to give it the exact tolerance. After 15 minutes it hardens to the softness of a pink erasor. This gave me just the right height, so I did not have problems like complex regional pain syndrome like some of my adr counterparts
(I was lucky enough to have enough disc left for dascor otherwise I would have gotten adr.)

Had cell regeneration or nucore been around before my disc had collapsed, I would have most likely gotten it. But one of the most important things I have found is that the treatment must be appropriate for the disease. I know people that have done well with simple
discectomy's (in a case of disc material calcifying on the nerves), and that have done well with a fusion (broken facet joints).

Luck is preparation meets opportunity.
The rule of thumb before getting any procedure is is to know beforehand exactly what is causing the dysfunction, get in shape before the procedure because it will increase the chances of success, and what your options will be should the procedure not work (i.e. had I gotten a discectomy, I would not have been able to get dascor, fusion, no adr etc).

I would not worry too much about the MDA - there is so friggen much of it in or everyday life, you probably got the same dose sucking off of your baby bottle.

[dylan]

I tried to get the paper on the europe studies, but could only get abstracts. From what I remember the success rates were very high, with very few complications.

The first dascor study was done in asia, which was a failure because the implant at the time was much too hard, which impacted the vertebral endplates. The subsequent implants were made with larger nodes of elasticity and then used in the europe study.

Dascor was my to be my first and luckily only procedure. Had it not been successful, Dascor can be easily revised into an ADR. Had ADR not worked, I would have then gotten a fusion.

[Justin]

Johnny...good luck and let us know how things are treating you.

[Johnny Vegas]

Linda-Thanks for answering my question. Fibrin sounds very fascinating and promising. (And just think, one day we will be able to use it for flat tires too!--OK, JK) Seriously, good luck to you.
Dylan-Thanks also. It is great to see a Dascor success story, as I was a little leary of a clinical trial. It sounds like you are a part-time Dr. at this point!
See you all "on the other side"

Dascor surgery scheduled in 10 days!