Anyone ever had a facet rhizotomy?????

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Have any of you ever had a facet rhizotomy and did it help with the pain and neurological symptoms. I am soon to have one in my lumbar spine!! Thanks in advance!!! 68RN

I had it done and it made no difference. The doctor said he wants to try the two nerves just below but needs to wait 6 weeks. In the meantime, back to the Darvocet! :cry:

I am curious how many and what nerves did he do did the rhizotomy on. Also when you had your last facet joint injection did he use steroids or just lidocaine? If steroids were used it could have given false impression of a pain generator was found by giving relief in that area from the steroids. I am so sorry it didn't work for you, our patients get great relief from them. But as Kally said they have to make sure the facet joint is the pain generator.:twocents:

Khouriya, make sure you have a facet block first to make sure it's the facets that are causing your pain. I feel your pain!

Yes, I did have that done. I think I have a weird body!

I am curious how many and what nerves did he do did the rhizotomy on. Also when you had your last facet joint injection did he use steroids or just lidocaine? If steroids were used it could have given false impression of a pain generator was found by giving relief in that area from the steroids. I am so sorry it didn't work for you, our patients get great relief from them. But as Kally said they have to make sure the facet joint is the pain generator.:twocents:

He just did two, but now he suspects that the bottom two below those are the culprits. I don't know what he used for the facet blocks, but I'll ask. Thank you for the information...I appreciate it!:)

maggie, you seem extremely helpful. i like my pain doc's nurses, but i don't think they are as knowledgable as you seem. do you have input on this....

since i had a mere 2-3 days of success in my facet joint injections, my doctor decided that ablation was the next step. (injections in c2-4 & occipital nerve block for the neuralgia, also diagnosed with cervical spondylosis & am hypermobile) anyway, the ablations were done a week ago. (c2-4 and occipital nerve) at first i was very sore, now dealing with crazy spasms. he warned that i may feel as though my scalp is burned for a few weeks. that the pain would be worse than the pain after facet injections. i've not gotten to any burning yet. i'm wondering if that means this won't 'take'. i'm so desperate for what we do to be effective. he says that in my case, the pain is chronic by now- injury happened year & half ago. but the facet injections (with the steroids in them) worked for a couple of days, we are on the right path, correct? so, it seems that this should work as well.

my question is, how does it feel when it works? if i don't feel that, is it because its the wrong approach or is it that it may take another go at it due to the age of the injury? today, i'm having the spasms and a little burning in the back, but it is the normal deep burning pain, not the sensitive surface kind he spoke of in my head. it seems as though my normal pain before any treatment is definitely still here if not accentuated. surely what we're doing is working, right? i don't want this to be given up on...

thanks so much for any ideas & for what you do.

Just because you didn't get the relief you thought you would get doesn't mean it was wrong. You may actually got relief from what he did but with that pain taken care of another area that was mask will now be the primary pain generator. Also if you are having muscle spasms that will keep the pain level elevated. Ice on 15 minutes off 15 minutes will help also alternating it with moist heat works for some. I think if you can get the spasms under control you will have some relief. Are you taking any muscle relaxers? How long are you out from you ablation? Hope that helps some, keep me informed. Maggie

Okay, just a quick question or so. My father is heavily thinking on doing a Rhizotomy. He has chronic pain in his whole left side, but mostly in his left arm. It started in his left arm I believe, and has made it's way to his left leg. He has to spinal cord simulators and is taking enough drugs to kill a horse everyday. So would the Rhizotomy help his condition, or atleast give way with some, if not all of this pain? When asked, his pain level is always a 7 or greater, that's as good as it gets. No one knows what to do or how to help anymore, and this is kind of a final option for pain treatment. So if you could give me some idea on the whole precedure and sorts, I would greatly appreciate it.

first let me say without being involved with your father's care i would never recommend any treatment over another... that being said i have a couple of questions for you. 1st you said his pain started in his left arm then it moved to his leg, did he have an injury to that arm? how long has he had his pain? has crps been ruled out? also has he had other injections and did they find the pain generator? what kind of diagnostics (mri ct's...) has he had and what do they show? i am surprise he has stimulators and still having so much pain, generally you have to have 50% relief at the trial before implantation, how long has he had his? have they check to see if his leads have possible migrated or does he have paddle placement?

now to your question would a rhizotomy help his pain? that all depends on if his pain generators are in the facet joints. that is why it is so important to have a facet joint injection with just local no steroids to find the pain generator. if he has relief then he could possible get some relief from a rhizotomy. again without having much history it is very hard to say there are so many factors that could be involved, such as scar tissue from past surgeries, bone spurs, and numerous others. if you want/need more information on rhizotomies i can tell you how we do ours, but please keep in mind physicians have their own way of doing them, i would never say one is right or wrong. hope this helps, i know how hard it is to see a love one suffer. all my best, :heartbeat mags

Mi Maggie,

I consider myself lucky to come upon the information you provided. I had back surgery in 2006 (removing lumber 4 & 5 and fusion). I was rear ended in June 2009 and my nightmares started all over. I have been having terrible pains in the last two months. My CT scan of the lumbar region is showing major degeneration in the discs above and below the fusion which i think is expected. He is now sending me for facet rhizotomy which got me scared in the begining until i read your post. He is saying that if this does not work he may have to extend the fusion, which i am hoping not to go down that road again. I am getting married in two weeks and is hoping to get some relief so i can enjoy my wedding day and our honeymoon. I will let you know what is happening and thanks for the insight.

Where did u get or do the lumbar facet injections with phenol

Have any of you ever had a facet rhizotomy and did it help with the pain and neurological symptoms. I am soon to have one in my lumbar spine!! Thanks in advance!!! 68RN

Hello,

This thread is probably pretty old but I have a question that applies. I had my second Facet Rhizotomy done a few days ago (left side C3-C6) and the post rhizotomy is completly different than when I had the right side done. The left side and back of my scalp down to my shoulder blades has been numb since Thursday (it is Saturday now), I have increased pain when I turn my head left but I expected that. The numbness has me concerned.. Is this a normal side effect?

Thanks,

Geo

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