Suggest treatment for shoulder pain after spinal fusion surgery
Patient: I had a spinal fusion in jan. This year of the 5th and 6th vertebra and was going well but last weekend I was having some neck to shoulder pain familiar of that before surgery. So I went to swing a sledgehammer at work and my right arm went week at my bicep. That Monday I went to my orthopedic surgeon and he X -rayed to confirm everything was in place. He put me on a dose pack do steroids for inflammation but weakness is still there after 5 days. It is getting more difficult to raise my arm but still have full range of motion. I still have more meds to take . Should I wait or get the MRI he wanted to do? Doctor: Hello,I have studied your case.I do not think that this weakness is due to nerve compression. But most probably it is due to shoulder muscle weakness or tear. So I would recommend you to get MRi of the shoulder joint to see if there is any tear in your rotator cuff which can present such picture.   If there is tear seen on MRI than you might need a arthroscopy surgery for the shoulder in which tendon will be repaired.I hope this answer will be useful for you. Let me know if there is any other follwup questions.thanks