stffness and bloating 3 years post surgery

[Pooka1]

It is all that muscle tightness and the development of a stiff and protruding belly 2.5 yrs after surgery that is mind boggling me and I'm trying to see if anybody who had a scoliosis surgery developed such symptoms.

Sami, didn't you say the muscle tightness started a few years before your surgery?

Was the protruding belly there since right after surgery or did it develop later? I know some other adults has mentioned the protruding belly and it sounds like it is due to the lordosis they build into the spine. Maybe they are trying hard to avoid flatback syndrome that they build in a larger lordodis that you had before. I have no idea... just guessing.

Please keep searching for the answer.

[jrnyc]

but most patients seem to report the belly reduces a great deal as time
passes..IF it was from lordosis, would that be true...??

jess

[Pooka1]

but most patients seem to report the belly reduces a great deal as time
passes..IF it was from lordosis, would that be true...??

jess

Right. I think that is referring to any ileus they had. That lasts at most several days and can be avoided altogether if food/liquids are restricted until the gut awakens.

I could be wrong by I think some folks here have said they have a protruding belly from the lordosis built into the fusion well after they could possibly have any ileus. Maybe I am wrong.

Someone who knows what they are talking about (not me) will hopefully chime in.

[jrnyc]

i was thinking of the female patients who report a stomach that looks "several months pregnant" and that lasts for months...
but that goes away eventually....
maybe someone who had this happen can report in...

jess

[Sami]

Sami, didn't you say the muscle tightness started a few years before your surgery?

Was the protruding belly there since right after surgery or did it develop later? I know some other adults has mentioned the protruding belly and it sounds like it is due to the lordosis they build into the spine. Maybe they are trying hard to avoid flatback syndrome that they build in a larger lordodis that you had before. I have no idea... just guessing.

Please keep searching for the answer.

Hi,

My belly started protruding 2 and 1/2 years after surgery and became very hard and tight.

[Pooka1]

Hi,

My belly started protruding 2 and 1/2 years after surgery and became very hard and tight.

Maybe our moderator can comment but I am wondering it it is even possible for that to be related to your fusion surgery given it presented so long afterward.

Don't lose hope about finding an answer.

[LindaRacine]

Sorry, I don't think I've heard of this before. It seems unlikely that it would have anything to do with the surgery.

[Sami]

Hi,

My belly started protruding 2 and 1/2 years after surgery and became very hard and tight.

Hi,

How did you do overall after surgery? What levels were fused? After surgery were you able to resume more or less a normal life and go back to work? Did you have any tightness anywhere else?

[Doodles]

I've seen the protruding belly discussion before but some said it went away. I'm not sure when mine started but I definitely have it. Definitely added a few inches to the waistline and weight is about the same as before surgery. I've exercised all the time and the waist measurement never changes. (Actually got a hula hoop a few months ago to try to work on it.) Plus one side protrudes more than the other side. Rather strange. Janet

[susancook]

Janet: there are probably a couple of reasons for protruding bellies, most of which are "normal". Just want to throw in my 2 cents. About 2.5 months after my surgery, I had a very strong burning sensation on my left lower abdomen. That lasted about 2 weeks, then I started to have stabbing pains with the burning pains. I looked down at my abdomen and noticed that my belly button was sort of on my right side of my abdomen and that my left side was protruding a little bit. Seemed strange and then my husband and I were on vacation in bed at night and I was laying on my back and I laughed. My left side of my abdomen ballooned up! Then, I realized that the burning and pains that I had for the past weeks were the opening of my ALIF scar and that I had an incisional hernia. I saw a general surgeon who did an office ultrasound and said the the entire 8 inches of my ALIF scar under the skin layer had opened. Bummer! I will probably have it repaired next late February or March.

Did you have an ALIF with your surgery? If so, lie on your back, take a deep breath and bear down like you might do with a bowel movement and see if the left side balloons up.

Susan.....and her menopausal pregnancy

[Doodles]

Susan--
ALIF means part of surgery was anterior, right? Mine was all done from back. I tried it anyway. When I lie down, mine is quite even. When I stand is when it is most evident. The left side get more concave and right side sticks out. My navel is about an inch too far to right. I think it's all about the rib hump and rotation really doesn't totally stop--at least not on me.
Thanks for giving me some insight though. Just had a nuclear bone scan and first 2 parts of idium test. Actually scan is tomorrow to see where infection is coming from. I guess I put the initial info about this on regular surgical but I've been dealing with lower back pain and around to lower left for a good 3 weeks now. On hydrocodone. This is all becoming pretty unsettling. I wasn't even going to mention it but I am full of BMP and some of the info on that has me feeling a little worried to say the least with the symptoms I'm having. I just looked at my surgery notes and there were 12 tubes of Infuse Bone Graft ordered and 120 mg. of BMP was used.
Hope in a couple days I'll feel silly for even mentioning this! Janet

[Confusedmom]

Janet,
Have you heard anything further? You seemed to be doing so well there for a while. I hope this turns out to be a small bump in the road.

I was curious about your statement that the rotation doesn't totally stop. I don't think mine did either. I definitely can see more of my rib hump now at 18 months postop than I did immediately after surgery. Do you think this is "normal"? I'm concerned it could indicate pseudarthrosis, though I haven't broken rods or anything and my X-rays look good. But if we were really completely fused, don't you think the spine would sort of be frozen in place and rotation wouldn't occur?

Evelyn

[Doodles]

Evelyn--
Thanks for asking. All of the scary tests seem OK so far. They weren't going to give me any antibiotics until they knew where infection was coming from. Then I got the worst cold/flu a week or so ago that they finally had to do the z-pack. I think I coughed out a few ribs. It was the sickest I've been with that sort of stuff in ages.
I'm actually supposed to be retested tomorrow for infection rates again and see doctor again on Tues. I thought at least the back/side/abdomen pain was over but it seems to be returning in the last 3 days.
My chiro often talks about the rotation and compares it to something on a car which I have forgotten. It will still have the same tendency to want to rotate the way it always has. But just think of the fixed spine sort of turning in its frozen state on its axis I guess. It makes sense when he illustrates it. He has said he wishes surgeons could work in conjunction with chiro. He said they could figure out a "fix" for the rotation. I'm sure many can debunk this. All I know is mine has rotated. They acknowledged the increase in rib hump at my last St. Louis checks. Janet

[Confusedmom]

Okay. Let us know how the re-test goes. Any theories for what the pain could be other than infection?

That's disappointing about the rotation. I will let you know what they say about mine after my next visit (not until April). I know it's worse because I have that crease between my ribs and hip again. :-( Oh well, I can live with a crease, just hopefully it won't mean pseudarthrosis.

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit!!

Evelyn

[asha]

How have things turned out for you? I hope you have improved. I had all my hardware removed 2 months ago and since the surgery I have had a protruding, hard belly with muscle spasms. Trying to find answers. I can only be upright for a few hours, then have to lie down due to pain in my upper abdomen. Anyone else have these issues? I really feel like a nerve was damaged. I had a ct that didn’t show anything abnormal in my abdomen.