SI dysfunction & pelvic instability

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

As a newbie, I'm skimming through old messages to see what's come up

that might help me with my current issues.

In a very old post, Bonnie wrote:

> Anyway, it seems that there are now docs looking into sacroiliac

>dysfunction following long fusions for idiopathic scoliosis and

pelvic instability following bone harvesting of the iliac crest.

Does anyone know who these docs are??? I suffer from SI joint

degeneration & pain which was present prior to my revision but is now

worse. I also had an, shall we say, interesting experience a few

years ago when, 32 years post-original fusion, a big piece of bone

snapped off my iliac crest with no apparent provocaton. It was

displaced and was non-union (didn't heal) for almost a year. Dr.

Rand (who I eventually found) said that this is not common but known

in patients who have had iliac bone harvests (which I did, and on the

same side that broke) and can happen many years after the surgery.

(My revision was done a couple of years after this event.) I was

actually relieved to hear this from Dr. Rand, as a previous doc had

accused me of " knowing " what trauma had occurred to cause this but

refusing to admit it (the implication was that I was a victim of

domestic violence, was stoned out on painkillers, or something like

that). Needless to say, THAT doc is not my doctor any more. All she

did was cause needless stress, worry, and distraction from the real

problem.

Dr. Rand has said that, if the SI joint pain is intolerable, my best

option may be an SI joint fusion. I was interested to read a post

saying that another member's doctor told them that this procedure is

not done. I'd really like to know who is doing the research on this

to get more informed on the current state of medical knowledge,

especially because the SI joint fusion is not a trivial surgery

(though it's not as extreme as spinal fusion revision).

Thanks!