A stroll through the park is one way Robert Nash stays active and enjoys life’s simple pleasures. But there was a time when lingering back pain made exercising not so simple for the retiree.
As far back as high school, the now 73-year-old was known to have a lower disc in his back that wasn’t fused. For decades, he lived with the discomfort as best he could. Then the disc problem progressed, making even basic tasks difficult to do.
“You really can’t stand straight; you can’t do any household chores,” Robert says. “It’s difficult getting up out of a chair. You lose sleep at night because every time you turn over you wake up with back pain. It really prevents doing anything meaningful.”
Pain medications and steroid injections only provided temporary relief. The success of an ablation procedure (to burn the impacted spinal nerve) proved to be short-lived as well. Looking for a more permanent solution, Robert sought the help of Kenneth Bode, M.D., an orthopedic spine surgeon on the medical staff at Texas Health Southwest Fort Worth who primarily operates at Texas Health Clearfork and at Texas Health Orthopedic Specialists, a Texas Health Physicians Group practice.
“The first time I saw him, I remember it because he was bent over,” Bode recalls. “He couldn’t even stand up straight.”
X-rays showed that several vertebrae in Robert’s lower spine were bone-on-bone as a result of the years of degeneration from arthritis. The wearing down of the stabilizing joints between the vertebrae, called facet joints, had led to less flexibility and mobility in Robert’s spine.
“With arthritis — wear and tear — that occurs over time, you’ll wear those [vertebrae] out to the point where they’re pinching and irritating nerves,” Bode adds.
Instead of an invasive spine fusion surgery, the physician recommended a minimally invasive endoscopic medial branch transection to treat Robert’s chronic back pain. To get to the root of the pain, Bode removed the medial branch nerve next to the affected facet joints in the spine to interrupt the pain pathway.
“The arthritis is there, that’s nothing that’s going to change because it’s a structural issue,” Bode explains. “You’re not really missing anything by not having that nerve. If you remove it, you’re of course not affecting the arthritis, but the arthritis doesn’t bother you anymore.”
Robert’s surgical procedure was able to be performed through a minimal incision so that no muscles would be impacted. As a result, the 73-year-old’s recovery time and discomfort were greatly reduced. He was able to walk soon after the outpatient procedure and was fully active within a week.
“I woke up from surgery and the pain was gone, and it has not recurred since,” Robert says. “My life has returned to normal. I can travel. I can exercise. I sleep good. I would recommend Texas Health Clearkfork. The people at the hospital were fantastic.”
The future now looks bright for Robert and his wife. He adds that the absence of back pain is a prime motivator for the couple to visit all 50 states as they resume their travels and a more active lifestyle.
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Doctors on the medical staffs practice independently and are not employees or agents of Texas Health hospitals or Texas Health Resources. © 2024 Texas Health Resources
Texas Health Orthopedic Specialists is a Texas Health Physicians Group practice. Providers employed by Texas Health Physicians Group are not employees or agents of Texas Health Resources hospitals. © 2024 Texas Health Resources