Broken left femur

Posted by lindsayweeks @lindsayweeks, Dec 6, 2023

In 2002 I broke my left femur and I lost 3/8 of my bone so I walk with the lip and I'm crooked. About 4 years ago I found out I had a blood clot but in the other leg. About 2 years ago I broke the lower part of my left leg in two places. From time to time I have to use my cane in my legs will swell to where I have to prop my legs up. Not too long ago I went to get up and I couldn't I had to have help getting up. I noticed that on the back part of my left leg right above my knee it was getting real hard and tight feeling. When I have to get up or move I have to place my hand on the back part of my ankle & guide my leg just to move it. I can't do it on it's own. If I move the wrong way it hurts in the middle of my upper left leg real bad, like it's broke. I went to the emergency room and they did an x-ray, ultrasound and a CT scan. They came back and said that they could find nothing wrong & that the titanium rod and screws were right where they needed to be and that there was nothing broken but yet they sent me home and I still can't walk. Can anyone please give me some advice on what they might think it could be. Thanks Lindsay

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Jennifer, Volunteer Mentor | @jenniferhunter | Dec 6, 2023

@lindsayweeks Hi Lindsay. I'm sorry you have had so much trouble with fractures and walking. On Connect, we learn from each other by sharing experiences, but we can't offer advice or a diagnosis as we are patients on a forum, not medical professionals. Only a trained medical professional can do that after examining you. It sounds like the emergency room only considered the possibility of issues with your surgical hardware positioning. It is possible that the hardware may be the source of the pain because it is metal inside the body. Many patients on Connect have shared that they have had fixation plates and screws removed because of pain after an appropriate healing time, myself included. I fractured my ankle 3 years ago, and had the hardware removed after a year and a half because it was causing pain and hives. Since then, it has been much better. The aching throbbing pain is gone, and no more chronic hives.

These discussions may be of interest.

Bones joints & Muscles - "Hardware removal after tibial plateau fracture (tpf)"
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/hardware-removal-after-tibial-plateau-fracture/

Bones Joints & Muscles - "Should I have Tibia Hardware Removed after Healing?"
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/hardware-removal-1/

The other possible source of pain may be arthritis in a joint such as the knee. My physical therapist told me that when the length of a limb changes because of breaking a bone, it puts extra stress on an adjacent joint that leads to arthritic changes. For example, breaking the lower arm leads to arthritis in the wrist joints that limits motion and causes pain. The knee can be affected by bad alignment when there is a problem in the leg or if the pelvis is out of alignment. A physical therapist or orthopedic specialist would be able to advise on these types of problems. There may be a few medical professionals on Connect, but they are here as patients or caregivers, and not able to diagnose issues without examining a patient.

Jennifer