What future complications might I have with a tibia implant as I age?

Hi @amrdubey, these are good questions to discuss with your orthopedic surgeon. I'm also tagging fellow members like @doodles418 @gardeningranny @caligirlian @jenniferhunter @bernese53, who have experience with tibial implants.

You might also be interested in this related discussion:
- Removal of plate and screws from tibia fracture https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/removal-of-plate-and-screws-from-tibia-fracture/

Amrdubey, if I calculated correctly, you've had the implant since you were 19 years old. What was the reason you needed the implant? Has it been causing you any issues? What it meant to be permanent?

@amrdubey Hello and welcome to Connect.

I did have titanium plates removed from my ankle, and I am a person who is reactive to metals. I had to give up having pierced ears years ago because every different metal I tried caused a problem. I did have pain and heat coming from the surgical area from my ankle fracture, and my ankle ached most of the time with some throbbing. I got chronic hives that were bad unless I stayed on antihistamines and took one at least every third day, or the hives and itching came back with a vengeance. I also had metals in dental work of crowns that may have added to the sensitivity. I do know that after all of this was removed from my body, the ankle plates, and the dental work, my asthma improved significantly and I no longer have hives.

The doctors never connected all of the issues with metals except my doctor who is an environmental medicine doctor. My dental work was replaced with ceramic implants and crowns that have no metal, and all the old silver dental fillings were replaced years ago with safer materials. There is always a risk with an additional surgery to remove hardware, and the insurance company may not want to pay for it unless there is a problem. Hardware removal leaves holes from the screw tracks and puts you at a higher risk of fracture until those fill in and heal. I am better off for having my titanium hardware removed and it reduced the pain. That may be different for you. If you keep track of what health issues you develop over time, that could give you a hint. You may not get an absolute answer, and for me, because it caused pain, that was enough to warrant removal with insurance approval. The hives started 6 months after the original surgery to install the plates for the ankle fracture, and I had to wait at least a year for bone healing before they could be removed.

You may also be interested in this discussion. Hardware Removal after Tibia Plateau Fracture
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/hardware-removal-after-tibial-plateau-fracture/
Have you asked your surgeon if this plate should be removed? Is it bothering you?

I had a motor accident and fractured my Proximal Tibia Plateau.
As it never bother me ..I never planned to get it removed.
But Suddenly I googled about future complications of retaining long term Titanium implant I got worried with the result as it may lead to Cancer also..

@amrdubey I can understand your concern about foreign materials in your body. Sometimes that is a necessary choice for a medical reason like regaining the function of your leg. What I have been told about titanium from my medical providers is that often it is an alloy or mixture of metals, so there may be something else in it as well.

I can't speak to what is right for you because I am not a medical professional. All I really can offer is my own health experience. I had dental work with crowns that contained various metals, and one that was replaced with a titanium-based ceramic covered crown. I also had root canals and the material they put in them contains cadmium which is a heavy metal. I had stainless steel posts inside of crowned teeth. I had talked to my environmental medicine doctor about all of this, and he said it wasn't really good, but removing it would be a much bigger issue. I had old silver amalgam dental fillings removed that contained mercury, silver and tin on the advice of my doctor, and I had all of those replaced with safer materials. It wasn't until the root canals began to fail under the old crowns, and the failing cement caused decay that I had all the teeth with crowns and root canals removed and replaced with non-metal zirconium (ceramic) dental implants and zirconium crowns. I had to have something done because a failing root canal sent an infection into my jawbone that ate away the bone, and when that was beginning again in another tooth, it was time to fix it with something safer instead of patching the old stuff that was there. I lived a lot of years with various metals in my mouth, and the titanium crown had been there around 20 years. I did develop asthma years ago, and it was only after all of the metals were removed from my body, that the asthma improved and my need for inhalers was reduced. I had given up on having pierced earrings because all of it caused a reaction like an infection. My days of living metal free came to an end when I fractured my ankle and I got titanium plates on my bones. My asthma got worse again which I predicted would happen. I waited a year for my ankle to heal, and then had the titanium plates removed. I was also having pain and heat in the joint as well as hives. After I became metal free again, my asthma improved again and the issues with the pain around the plates and hives resolved.

This is my reaction, but that doesn't mean everyone will react this way. I have read that titanium dental implants can cause inflammation in the jaw bone, and there are patients who are allergic to it or other metals. I have not been able to find any literature stating a causal connection of titanium to cancer. There are many things that contribute to cancer, as well as people who can be at genetic risk for cancers through no fault of their own. There is a lab in Chicago that does testing for allergies and immune responses to implant materials. It is an expensive test, and when I did this, it was not covered by my insurance. Here is a link from the lab about metal sensitivity. https://www.orthopedicanalysis.com/page/metal-sensitivity

There are things in the environment that may cause cancer too, smoke and air pollution, contaminants in drinking water, toxic chemicals and volatile organic compounds in solvents or varnishes. You can take steps to lessen exposure to known toxins, and eat healthy so your body has antioxidants to fight all of this and run HEPA air filters with carbon filtration to absorb the VOCs from the air. Good nutrition can boost the body's immune system. If you do want a medical opinion about how your body reacts to a titanium implant, you could consult an environmental medicine doctor. You may search for a provider at https://www.aaemonline.org/. There may not be a clear answer, and you may tolerate things better than I do.

Another good resource is the practice in Texas that pioneered this field of medicine. https://www.ehcd.com/

It is good to pay attention to health issues. Remember to keep it in perspective and ask trained experts when you have questions. You would need a surgical opinion about if your tibia plate may be safely removed. My surgeon didn't connect my plate as causing the hives or making the asthma worse, but a doctor needs a lot of proof in a study before they will accept something as fact. They have to be careful in their diagnosis. My environmental medicine doctor was more prone to agree with me on hardware removal because of my history and symptoms without having to pinpoint a cause. Don't talk yourself into developing a health problem. Your outlook has a lot to do with your overall health. Stress contributes to a lot of illnesses. Your mind is very powerful, so do what you can to ease your fears, and keep believing in a positive outcome. You have to also qualify the information that you find online as a trusted source. If you are finding research studies at the National Institutes of Health or a study published in a respected medical journal or by a respected medical institution, those would be trusted sources. If you find a site selling supplements to prevent cancer and touting their studies, that would not be a respected source of information in the medical field.

Did you have information you wish to share?

I also had a similar injury From jumping into a shallow pool to rescue my granddaughter from drowning. I fractured My Tibial plateau in both directions so I now have a plate and five screws holding it together. I still have pain which is why I was considering having It removed. My dr described the surgery and it seems really simple. Same day outpatient and can do it under twilight. We now figured out though that the pain is coming from a herniated disc compressing my sciatic nerve and I will likely need surgery for that. I don’t take surgery lightly and if the pain to my knee goes away, I don’t think I will have the hardware removed. I have Never heard of a risk of cancer from titanium implants, but I would assume it’s a very low risk if they are still using it regularly. There is a risk of death with any surgery, especially knees for some reason so I would have to weigh those risks. Good luck with your decision!