Fracture complication with the plate

Posted by gailfaith @gailfaith, May 13, 2018

Back in Nov 2017, I fractured the right femur above and right next to a prosthetic knee implanted in 2006 which showed no wear as of last summer. It was a spiral fracture. I never had any pain in that knee after the implant of the replacement.....until now. When I mentioned it to the repairing surgeon, he said if it still bothers me after a year, he will remove the plate. I have an appt with the surgeon who did the implant of the prothesis. Has anyone ever had a supporting plate removed from the location of fracture? When I mentioned it to my physical therapist he said by then the plate has "grown" into the bone itself. That sounds like a complicated surgery and might have several possible complications which might make that "repair" not worthy of consideration.
Would appreciate any thoughts in this regard. @gailfaith .

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Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | May 13, 2018

Hi @gailfaith, removing the supporting plate from the fracture location sounds awful, especially if the plate has grown into the bone. But I'm no surgeon. Did you talk to your surgeon about the possible complications specific to your age and mobility?

I'm tagging @shehata88 @rileydog @skronky100 @nancylh and @JustinMcClanahan on this discussion. @shehata88 has a similar situation and had the plate removed. You can read about it here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tibial-plateau-fracture/
Hardware removal after tibial plateau fracture https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/hardware-removal-after-tibial-plateau-fracture/