Sunday March 02, 2008
A Tangled Web
Sunday March 02, 2008
Fibula Plate Removal
On Thursday
February 14th, I had the second of two hardware removal surgeries, this one
to remove the fibula plate and its 9 screws. I was back to lying on the couch with the leg up on pillows covered with ice packs for 4 days, then on crutches for another 9 days. On Wednesday the 27th they removed the stitches and replaced them with strips of tape. I went into the doctor's office on crutches, and walked out carrying them under my arm. It hurts a little when I walk, but that will get better over time. Removal of the fibula plate was a little more invasive because there is so much muscle they had to move out of the way to get to the bone. They also sawed off a shard of bone that was sticking out and digging into my calf muscle, so once the soreness from the surgery is gone there should be no pain. When I talked to Stacy, the PA who has assisted on each of my 4 surgeries, she said that when she was digging around in my leg feeling for the bone shard, it nearly pierced her surgical glove when she found it, as it was really sharp. No wonder it was causing me pain!
Here are a couple of pics of what was removed. It looks rather wimpy compared to the hefty plate that held my tibia together.
I'll spare you
having to look at any external post-surgery pictures, as some people
can't handle seeing stitches. Suffice it to say that it took an 8-inch
incision to get that plate out so there were a lot of stitches.
Here are a couple of x-rays taken the day they removed the stitches. The holes in the tibia are faint, as they've now had 4 months to repair. The holes in the fibula are pretty scary, just because it's such a small bone and the holes large relative to the size of the bone. I guess that's why they told me no activity with any impact beyond normal walking for another 8 weeks. It wouldn't take much to snap the fibula in its current state.
Posted at 11:49AM Mar 02, 2008 by mwhite in Motorcycle Mania | Comments[8]
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Looks awesome! Glad this is all behind you -- and in no time the swelling will go down and the screw holes will fill in. Too bad they couldn't fix the loose screws elsewhere. . . LOL!
Glad you found this website -- I know the friendship and comaraderie of others who have had similar experiences has been a source of strength and encouragement.
Have a great trip to Europe!!
Love you,
DDS
Posted by Beverly Iredale on March 03, 2008 at 06:08 AM PST #
Hi there,
I am a 22 year old student and broke my ankle exactly one month ago by a simple act of slipping and falling on ice. The damage however, was unfortunately not so simple as I fractured both my tibia and fibula.
I now have metal plates and screws holding both of the bones together and I am contemplating having them removed once they are healed. I hate looking at my leg, incisions aside because those will heal, because the metal clearly sticks out from underneath the skin.
Also, I travel a lot by plane since I'm at school halfway across the country from home, so I now dread the metal detectors, and don't want to do so for the rest of my life.
So... given the fact that my doctor thinks it not necessary to remove the metal, but my desire is strong to have it removed, do you think it would be okay to remove it once I have the financial means?
Posted by Armand on March 20, 2008 at 10:00 PM PDT #
I had the exact same thing - the screws in my ankle (13 of them!) were visible through the skin and any pressure on that area hurt. I flew a number of times with all the hardware in my leg and always took a photocopy of an X-ray of my leg showing the hardware, plus a note from my surgeon. Amazingly, I never had to use it - my leg never set off the metal detectors. I have no idea why.
Even if my surgeon had not thought it necessary to remove my hardware, I would have done it anyway because it caused me pain and discomfort. So, I say go for it when you can afford to.
Posted by Mark on April 20, 2008 at 10:30 PM PDT #
I had a horrible slip and fall on 1/28/08 and broke the fibula/tibia, was given 2 plates one 7 hole one 4hole total 15 screws. My skin is having difficulty healing over the metal on the inner portion of my right ankle. I had 2 additional surgeries by a plastic surgeon, dibriment and a skin graft from my right thigh in an attempt to cover the area refusing to heal over metal. I am heading to Miami tomorrow (5/20/08)to get a second opinion b/c the ortho says he has done his job and the bones are healed, more or less, what is going on now is my problem. I am hoping that the ortho traumatologist in Miami will give me the thumbs up and I can remove the plates and screws on the inner portion and my skin can heal without having to have a free flap (muscle transfer and another skin graft) to heal. This has turned into a nightmare for me. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers.
Posted by Sherry on May 19, 2008 at 03:30 PM PDT #
Hi Mark - I had a similar break and hardware installed (plate + 8 screws) in Thailand last year following a motorcycling "off". My thai surgeon will be removing the plate next month and has talked about walking with assistance of crutches for six weeks post-op to allow holes to fill in. Did you have this experience as from your posting it seems as if you were walking full weight bearing much sooner than that? I will be grateful for your comments on this - Cheers - Barry Neves
Posted by Barry Neves on July 01, 2008 at 01:17 AM PDT #
Regarding my above posting - I meant my tibia was fixed with plate and screws, they left the fibula to heal in its own time!
Posted by Barry Neves on July 02, 2008 at 04:16 AM PDT #
Hi Barry, I was full weight bearing after 10 days, although the doctor did advise me not to run or jump for at least 8 weeks to give the holes time to fill in. Even 3 months later the holes were still visible in X-rays.
Every doctor has different advice, and it often depends upon where the break is (close to the ankle, close to the knee, middle of the lower leg...).
I had 14 screws just in the tibia, and 8 of them were right in the ankle, the other 6 were about 6-8 inches above the ankle.
Hope all goes well with your plate removal!
mark
Posted by Mark White on July 09, 2008 at 04:21 PM PDT #
Many thanks for the encouraging reply Mark! Yes, my fracture was virtually identical to yours but with only 5 screws near ankle, so I intend to do much the same as you recovery-wise! Seems that no impacts for the 3 months following removal is the most consistent advice! Looking forward to it and to getting back on two wheels again!
All the best - Barry
Posted by Barry Neves on July 18, 2008 at 05:39 AM PDT #