Cyclist iliac Syndrome

[Flemish Lion]

Herewith a quick update from my side.

 

After patching my left iliac artery last year (vain patch) I had my right iliac artery sorted out last Friday. Last year Dr Levien decided not to fix my 30 percent blocked right iliac artery and see if it would heal after releasing the inguinal ligament while using disprin and aspavor

 

After struggling for a year we decided to patch the right side too and it actually got worse compared to last year. So my case suggests that releasing the ligaments alone does not allow the artery to heal.

 

At least I managed to stay fit the past year (heart rate hit 37 during my sleep) and active recovery will start in just over 2 weeks.

 

My left iliac is working 100 percent, only a slight burning feeling after hard efforts.

 

I'm looking forward to next year! At least I will be able to share my pain with other .

 

So if one (or both) of your legs go numb after hard efforts get it looked at, because the last thing you want is a blood cloth to shoot off to your brain.

[Mikeybikey]

Hi everyone,

 

I'd be really interested to hear any updates on your health after surgery.

 

I developed EIAE in August 2013. As yet I haven't had a repair, hoping that I could avoid surgery. So far I have made a return to racing, albeit at a lower level, and my right leg loses all blood flow during hard effort or sprinting. I have raced for 30 years and am now still very young for 46 yrs old.

 

My surgeon has discounted doing inguinal ligament release on the basis that it could lead to hernia. From your comments it sounds like this might be necessary to prevent recurrence.

 

So....how are things? Would you recommend the surgery? Has inguinal ligament release worked?

 

Thanks in advance. I hope to keep channels like this open for future sufferers of EIAE, as I found it important to get all the facts I could before making a decision.

[Flemish Lion]

Eish - this has been a while!

 

What have done in the end Mikeybikey?

 

I had my left iliac artery patched exactly 4 years ago and my right artery the year after.

 

It seems the symptoms are back in my left iliac artery as I have muscle pain again during intense exercise (races). 

 

I can only see Dr Levien (Sunninghill) on 14 December

 

Has no one else been diagnosed with this condition since?

[Flemish Lion]

Good article!

 

But no mention of releasing inguinal ligament as Dr Levien did in my case.

 

http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/06/feature/power-iliac-artery-endofibrosis-cycling_409438

 

Dr visit now 15 November.

[Flemish Lion]

Dr established I have a small irritation to my left iliac artery again caused by rubbing of the inguinal ligament. So we'll monitor how it develops. If it gets worse he'll release the inguinal ligament some more which is a relatively small op and the artery should recover.

 

So much better news than expected and my right iliac artery is looking good.

 

Half a disprin a day for the next 7 months (next Dr visit) to smooth the blood flow - its NOT a banned substance FYI

 

It's amazing how a little irritation to the artery can cause so much pain when riding at threshold!

[NordicElf]

Dr established I have a small irritation to my left iliac artery again caused by rubbing of the inguinal ligament. So we'll monitor how it develops. If it gets worse he'll release the inguinal ligament some more which is a relatively small op and the artery should recover.

 

So much better news than expected and my right iliac artery is looking good.

 

Half a disprin a day for the next 7 months (next Dr visit) to smooth the blood flow - its NOT a banned substance FYI

 

It's amazing how a little irritation to the artery can cause so much pain when riding at threshold!

 

 

Glad it wasn't very bad news. 

I've been meaning to read the articles, particularly on how to prevent it. Seems like something worth investigating. Presumably you were doing all the right things to prevent it?

[Barend de Arend]

It's amazing how a little irritation to the artery can cause so much pain when riding at threshold!

 

Wa' veu brol verkoopte gij nu?  Hou op met die flauwe kul, en trapt toch deu, jonge!   Ze wachte nie meej, zunne.  Zie nu, g'ebt de bus al gemist.

 

Good to hear it's not serious.    Keep an eye on it, and keep safe.  We take our sport way too seriously.

 

 

edit: add a missing 'not'.  That's a bit embarrasing.

[Flemish Lion]

Wa' veu brol verkoopte gij nu?  Hou op met die flauwe kul, en trapt toch deu, jonge!   Ze wachte nie meej, zunne.  Zie nu, g'ebt de bus al gemist.

 

Good to hear it's not serious.    Keep an eye on it, and keep safe.  We take our sport way too seriously.

 

 

edit: add a missing 'not'.  That's a bit embarrasing.

K'weet het, maar kan het fietsen niet laten Al is het koersen geen goedkope drugs

[Flemish Lion]

Glad it wasn't very bad news. 

I've been meaning to read the articles, particularly on how to prevent it. Seems like something worth investigating. Presumably you were doing all the right things to prevent it?

 

You can't really prevent it as its mainly YOUR anatomy - how close / where does your iliac artery run in relation to your inguinal ligament.

 

You can try a more upright position which won't stretch the artery as much.

 

But I rarely cycled in my drops and stand a lot while climbing and also rarely do TTs so I should have been a less likely candidate... but 2 ops later...

[Flemish Lion]

If you think you have iliac artery endofribosis (and it hasn't evolved too far) I would suggest the following: If you get a numb foot / feet or extremely sore legs after some hard efforts then take half a dispirin and do that exact effort once more. If it feels a lot better you are likely to have an irritated artery (I'm no Dr. but it could help with the diagnostics process).

 

Then go for a pressure test at a Dr and if that's not looking good he should refer you to a specialist who will most likely do a vascular ultrasound (which will set you back about R2k).

 

My specialist said that instead of doing the patch they now first release the inguinal ligament and in many cases the artery recovers. So that's a small incision compared to the vain patch.

[WR 1.0]

I should maybe have a check up. My left leg is much weaker than my right. Had a bad bout of sciatica last year which took 6 months to get better. I still have a slight numb feeling in my left calf though. Could this be a result of what you guys are describing?

[Flemish Lion]

I should maybe have a check up. My left leg is much weaker than my right. Had a bad bout of sciatica last year which took 6 months to get better. I still have a slight numb feeling in my left calf though. Could this be a result of what you guys are describing?

 

Sciatica is a nerve issue. How did they diagnose and treat it?

 

When you have endofibrosis it's not a slight pain but an excruciating pain when doing all out efforts as you pump all the blood out of your leg and it doesn't get replaced in time for the next effort so no blood to feed the muscles resulting in excruciating pain and will make you almost stop immediately.

 

Iliac artery endofibrosis is hard to diagnose especially if you have it in both legs and some athletes live with it until it just blocks completely as was in my case or they just stop competing.

[WR 1.0]

X-rays and cortisone didn't do much. Ended up at biokineticist, which helped following the stretches and foam roller sessions. Still get the worst cramps and pain in the leg sometimes though it almost feels like the bones are cramping.

[WR 1.0]

Clarify :the x ray showed no spine issues, hence the sciatica diagnosis (nerves won't show on the X ray)