Hi,

Has anyone had a 'Dorsal root entry zone (DREZ) operation for the relief of pain from a brachial plexus injury?

Thanks,
Paul
T5 Spinal

Is that the one they were doing in Craig Hospital,,,,, in Colorado, I think?? I read about it here on this site a while back,,,,, someone had it performed and was very happy with the results.

I haven't found the right word to use in search, yet,,, but I'll keep trying.
ed

Hi ed,

Sorry m8 i'm from the UK, The (drez) operation is quite new over here and i've looked into it on the net and i would love to find out from someone who has had the operation to here their views on it.

This paper caught my eye concerning DREZ and Dorsal Root Entry Lesions surgery.
http://www.thecni.org/reviews/09-1-p20-balazy.htm This paper describes the procedure and outcome for the type of pain I may be having. Apparently a fairly high success rate for relieving chronic SCI pain. I've read it is most successful for cervical and upper thoracic injury. I am researching the procedure and scoring the net for Neurosurgeons who have a high degree of experience with this procedure.
Surgery first preformed in 1975 at Duke Univ. Medical Center.
I am a t6 t7 sci with a ton on neuropathic pain. However DREZ may not be my solution owing to the level of injury. My pain doc. has suggested a number of things for my level including Celiac Plexus ablation. This can be tested with a local anesthetic to the Plexus and see what happened. Totally reversible just wait for the local to ware off. This is a procedure often used on Pancreatic cancer patients when they reach unbearable levels of pain. He tells me the description of my pain is very similar to theirs. Their pain is visceral where as mine is peripheral however.
I'm on the searh also.
Good luck.