Patient Stories

As a lifelong athlete, Rachael Parrott lives to ski, play basketball and push her body on challenging hikes in her hometown of Bozeman, Montana, despite back pain that has plagued her since college.

“I was a competitive skier and basketball player, but I would end up bedridden for a week at a time when my back would go out,” Rachael said.

After two decades of pushing through the pain, she found Sohrab Gollogly, MD (Monterey, CA), an orthopedic surgeon specializing in spine surgery.

“Rachael’s MRI showed arthritis of the lumbar spine that happens when the small joints of the spinal column – the facet joints – are worn down by years of athletics,” Dr. Gollogly said. “She’s the classic power athlete; someone who generates a lot of force with her trunk and hips for sports like ski racing. Those athletes tend to develop facet arthritis after years of squats, deadlifts and hip thrusters to train for their sport.”

He determined that Rachael was a good candidate for an ultra-minimally invasive endoscopic spine surgery called a medial branch nerve transection (MBT).

“The endoscope is about the width of a pencil tip, and it allows us to reach small areas inside the spine through a tiny incision,” Dr. Gollogly said. “The MBT procedure involves dividing the medial branch nerve that has been transmitting the pain signal from the facet joints to the brain, without disrupting the muscles and ligaments that provide crucial stability to the spine.”

For Rachael, the relief was immediate.

“It truly is night and day,” she said. “I went in and had the procedure, walked out of surgery, and flew home the next day. I had used a back rest in the car for years and even on the way home I didn’t need it and haven’t used it since.”

Today, Rachael is back to skiing, hiking and playing in an adult basketball league – all without pain.

“I am very active, but at 45, I know that my body will have an expiration date for extreme sports before I am mentally ready to give them up,” she said. “But now, I don’t feel as rushed to get it all in. My timeline was extended and I feel great.”

Dr. Gollogly says Rachael has no restrictions on her activities. For her, there’s only one thing she wishes she had done differently.

“My only regret is that I didn’t have the procedure sooner.”

Disclaimers
This is not medical advice and Arthrex recommends that surgeons be trained in the use of a particular product before using it in surgery. A surgeon must always rely on their own professional judgment when deciding whether to use a particular product when treating a particular patient. A surgeon must always refer to the package insert, product label, and/or directions for use before using any Arthrex product. Postoperative management is patient-specific and dependent on the treating professional's assessment. Individual results will vary and not all patients will experience the same postoperative activity level or outcomes. Products may not be available in all markets because product availability is subject to the regulatory or medical practices in individual markets.

This real patient was compensated for the time she took to share her story.

Physician is a paid consultant of Arthrex, Inc.