Connect
Lumbar hardware removal due to osteomyelitis
I was hoping to not have this procedure as I feel certain there will be more ongoing issues. Fusion at L5-S1. The disc at L5 is bulging. How is that not going to herniate. Herniated discs have always meant surgery for me. When I asked about soft tissue and bone damage, the response from neurosurgery was, “ we remove hardware all the time”. That doesn’t inform the patient about how this will affect the their life in the future.
So far, 6 weeks with wound vac machine and now continued dressing 3x a week. Sure this would be healed on the outside by now with staples. Pain is setting in now that I’m walking more. Aargh! Hoping for more hydrocodone but know that’s controlled. Challenging
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Spine Health Support Group.
Connect
Hi, I also got osteomyelitis from the hardware used. Mine was caused by S. aureus (staph) on top of MRSA. I had to not only do a repair surgery but they also went through my back which was really painful. There's a thing called a biofilm which sets the pathogen right up. With the MRSA I had to receive intravenous antibiotics. I had a severe reaction from an antibiotic and got an acute kidney shock and it felt like everything that could go wrong was happening. How long ago was your surgery? If you can't get relief go to a pain specialist, I love mine.
Wow. Does not sound like a good experience. With aging and surgery, think there are additional issues that crop up. My spine was fused from L5-S1. I also got a severe reaction to vancomycin after a month. I don’t have a good feeling about this. I was having SI joint problems before surgery and I think hips are involved, arthritis. I do not want anymore surgery. I see the surgeon for the first time this week. I had a wound vac machine for a month as they are trying to heal from the inside out and dressings which are changed 3x a month.
How is your pain treated?
Hydrocodone 10mg. Also I'm on Lyrica and have two types of muscular relaxers though I've never gotten any relief from them. What happened with the Vancomycin? I had a low trough and infectious disease specialist amped the dose and pow. Kidney injury. Is this a new specialist you're seeing or the one who put in the hardware.? Did they test your nose for bacteria is pre-op They did mine yet I came down with S. aurius. (I currently have an infected sore from that now) I should also say that I have a primary immune deficiency which sets me up to this stuff. But the docs acted like none of this could be related to them or the hospital. I looked up my hospital's # of MRSA cases and there was only 1 the year before. And it's highly ranked by numerous studies. Have you tried to look up that kind of thing from your hospital? Maybe it's defective biofilm resistance on the hardware itself?