Crushed tibia plateau and fractured tibia post op
Hi, I had a 5cm crushed tibia plateau and tibia fracture requiring 2 plates and 6 screws. I'm 7 month post op. My knee joint feel great with good movement. I have bad pain down my tibia to my ankle, the fracture was only 6 inches down from the top of my knee. I feel that the plate is keeping my tibia from flexing when I walk or stand naturally. Idk for sure. What I do know is I have bad pain and I feel the hardware is the culprit. Has anyone had an issue like this. I've had an xray that shows just post op changes but no issues. Something is wrong. I've broken bones and have not hurt like this. Please help!!
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I'd be getting my preoperative records. It's possible the fractured it during surgery. Hold them accountable. Call a laywer
I have a friend who suffered a broken neck from a fall, breaking the top two cervical vertebrae into pieces. Surgery was deemed too risky so he wore a carbon fiber 'halo' appliance for two years but healed well. Two things helped the boney pieces to bridge and join: the doctor added an ultrasound emitting collar when healing seemed to have hit a plateaus and stopped; and I took a bone support vitamin to my friend. The neurosurgeon read the label and said it was a good formula and good idea. (It had calcium, D3 and K2 and other minerals.)
We could see the difference that ultrasound added just by comparing the CT scans before and 5 weeks after.
Taking a bone-support vitamin might help heal other fractures and ultrasound is standard adjunct therapy in professional sports so I wonder if they might be helpful in healing other conditions where pieces of bone have to "fill in" to heal.
One footnote. The ultrasound sped up the healing so fast that we asked the neurosurgeon why he didn't apply it months earlier. He said that insurance doesn't cover the cost for the first six months. He's an excellent doctor and we like him but made it very clear that he should have consulted with us and mentioned the option. We would have gladly absorbed the extra cost to get my friend healed and out of rehab faster. I now always ask a doctor what the best course of treatment is regardless of insurance coverage in case there's a real option worth paying for out-of-pocket and to not assume anything about what choices I might make when fully informed.
I followed up with my surgeon, he has recommended PT 4 weeks. Then removal of hardware. My hardware is directly under the skin and hits many nerves that is causing my pain according to him.
Would it be a good idea to also see a neurologist since the surgeon said the hardware 'hits many nerves' just in case the neurologist has ideas about how the removal process can be negotiated? Maybe it's a fairly simple operation and a neurologist would be reassuring as well.