Fractured Tibia and Fibula (Broken Lower Leg Bones) with Fixation Surgery (painful, ankle)

[5gabpaul]

I have a broken tibia with 6 fractures and a broken fibula. I had open reduction internal fixation. I have a steel plate with 9 screws into the tibia bone. I fell down my stair case holding by 2 yr old daugher. She was fine. I am six wks post my surgery and have swelling in the ankle and tibia area. The tibia and fibula bones are very sore. I had my cast removed 4 wks post surgery and I am now in an aircast for an additional 4 wks. I was wondering if any one had a similar break and how they are now doing. I am hoping to walk without a limp and to eventually wear shoes again.

[fingers crossed]

Originally Posted by Positiveone

Hi!

Has anybody here ever had this type of a fracture to the leg? - Fractured Tibia and Fibula (Broken Lower Leg Bones) with Fixation Surgery.

I broke my leg back on July 3rd, had the surgery on July 13th, and was wondering if anybody else had this and how long did it take to fully recover? I'm still in pain one month after the break.

Thank you

Hi just like to say how helpful everyone information was, i broke my tib fib at football i went for tackle hit the guys shin with my shin, he had shinpads i didnt (i know dumb) so anyway i have had exactly the same break as you kinda, i am now 2 months on, my leg when i broke it was flopping around, my leg 2 month on is very skinny, i aint done any physiotherapy but am walking again (slowly) but i think if it hadnt been to me constant trying except for occasional fall haha it has helped me loads quick recovery, anyway i suppose i just type to say how much all ur info helped, i have been very depressed as i pld football 6 times a week constantly crying (boohoo) and ohhh now i remember why i respond :P, i have been told after 2-3 yrs i can have pins removed after they grafted to my bone ( sounds nasty) but if i cant kneel down etc foir the pins im glad to have a second operation, wish u all speedy recovery

[fingers crossed]

Originally Posted by 5gabpaul

I have a broken tibia with 6 fractures and a broken fibula. I had open reduction internal fixation. I have a steel plate with 9 screws into the tibia bone. I fell down my stair case holding by 2 yr old daugher. She was fine. I am six wks post my surgery and have swelling in the ankle and tibia area. The tibia and fibula bones are very sore. I had my cast removed 4 wks post surgery and I am now in an aircast for an additional 4 wks. I was wondering if any one had a similar break and how they are now doing. I am hoping to walk without a limp and to eventually wear shoes again.

Im sorry i cant comment on personal note about fibula, but i had a friend do fibula on motorbike 18 months ago, the guy at time had to retwist his knee back rnd etc,cos he could of lost leg, and now he is back riding motorbikes, no limp he didnt do tibula mind, but his fibula healed nicely and he is out on motox, sorry not more info hope it helps a little though, or gives u a boost

[blueglass]

I have been out of my air cast for 1 week now, and getting around pretty well. Still some swelling, mainly in my ankle, but have been able to wear my shoes. Ankle hurts some, and bones hurt some too, but depends on the situation I am in. I try to be careful as not to tip and fall over, which seems very likely with a slight limp. Need to watch what surface you are on.

[unknown stuntman]

A fractured fibula (a centimeter from being broken) in college was my most frustrating injury during my lifetime. It ended my track career and I wasn't the same at playing basketball there after. I rushed back too soon, thinking if I didn't need crutches beyond a few weeks and it had been many months since the injury, it couldn't be a big deal, right? Big mistake- it only slowed down the healing process. A fractured/broken fibula lingers a very long time. It is quite frustrating, as seeing I didn't even need a cast, there is a false sense that things will be back to normal in no time.

[ggilliard]

Hi to everyone,
My son is 18 yrs old diabetic since age 2 on an insulin pump now for 6 years doing good but he broke his tibia fibula on oct 13 at 10:15p at work was picked up by ambulance to hospital where they missed his vain and lied to him and told him they gave him 2 doses of morphine when arrived at hospital they told us that the emt lied to us finally the hospital gave 1 dose of morphine and somthing else tried to splint his leg and he was in to much pain they then decided to sedate him and figured out the IV was in his muscle by this time they put an iv in hand and tried to sedate him doctor gave all she could give and they set it with him awake and no pain meds. finally got a room at 3:30 am then he finally was given somthing for pain operated on him 9:30 am on oct 15 doctor told us he put 2 long rods and cables finally got him home on oct 18 and we go to the doctor on tues oct 23 he is in a splint cast in a wheelchair with crutch use he is very strong but we dont know what to expect on healing time thanks for any input Mom ggilliard

[Ryan 777]

Hi everybody

Hey Positiveone, it will take a very long time for the pain to go. Even once the initial pain of recovering from surgery has gone, the suffering you will endure when you start walking and are rebuiling muscle is intense. My best advice would be(as said before in this thread) move your foot as much as possible. stretch. go to physio and hydro as much as you can as early as you can. pull that big toe back while your foot is pointed towards you. this will help reduce muscle/tendon stiffness and shortening.

My story is similar to nadine1976. send your regards to your husband. it is a tough one to deal with. I wish everyone a speedy recovery. i have done loads of research on this topic as i feel nobody is in charge of managing my rehabilitation. this is my story.

I was working on an onshore mineral exploration drilling rig. this was my chance to make some big money and live a lifestyle of 3 weeks work and 3 weeks holiday. it was my 3rd day on the job and we were 400km from the nearest hospital. I was working on some rod casings (24 metre long pipes) that were stacked incorrectly by a pharmacutically enhanced worker and one rolled off the stack taking me with it. I am thankful to be alive, but bitter that a 600kg pipe smashed down on my leg and snapped my tibia causing small fragments around the fracture site.
It took a few minutes to get peoples attention to move it off. I explained what happened while one of the boys put it in a splint. To cut a long story short, a helicopter was unavailable, we had no airstrip for a plane and NO PAINKILLERS on site. my boss told me "you've just had a nasty nock-if it was broken you would be screaming your head off and know all about it"
I sat on a chair having this conversation- no elevaltion -no ice-my rig boot was pulled off- the splint was removed
i was put into the front seat of a car and driven back to camp where they suggested i have a shower and change my clothes. i refused and requested that an ambulance meet us half way into town -the same chap responded "whats the point?" i needed medical treatment sooner rather than later.

It was a 80km drive laying on the back seat of a 4wd accross a harsh Australian outback road bumping about for 2 hours while sipping coke and having a few smokes. the final 2 hours was on a bitumen.

I broke my leg at 3.30 and got to hospital and got some morphine at 8pm. At 12pm i was trasfered by plane to Perth. It was a 7 hour journey with over 40 doses of morphine. i had surgery around 9.30am that day.

I had a rod hammered down my tibia with 2 screws top and bottom. i spent a week in hospital and was discharged a day before my 21st.

I had surgery on 12 June and was partially weight bearing at the end of July. By the end of August i was fully weight bearing and quite happy but still in pain. i had a very minimal callus formation on one side of the fracture (they consider there to be 4 sides). My specialist removed the 2 distal locking screws (at the ankle) on the 5 september. this is a quick operation but does some considerable damage. i havent had a pain free day since. the theory here is to allow compression at the fracture site to stimulate more growth. A recent review on 17 OCtober has revealed no significant change. its just a waiting game now. I can walk but have a limp. i have start up pain which is severe stiffness in the ankle and foot after sleeping or sitting too long. i use a cane sometimes during the day.when i point my foot towards me i cant bend my big toe up. I have orthotics in my shoes becasue it caused my arches to fall in. i am not allowed to lift heavy things or walk long distances.
Like your rehabilitation i'm doing 3 gym sessions/3 physio/ some acupuncture and hydro sessions a week. I cant get a good night sleep without taking painkillers or sleeping pills. i was very active before this accident and am now so bored i'm on antidepressant meds too. I am intersted to find out what you guys do when everyone is at work or partaking in something you cant do. all i can do is swim and drink beer.
I have another review in 6 weeks, if there is no changes we will review again in another 6 weeks.

My doctor mentioned that he had a case proceed to non-union and did a bone graft at the 10 month mark. this is very painful but definatly worked as it healed up 100% after 8 months.

i hope that in sharing my experience you can take steps to not trap yourselves. definatly....

-do not overdo it. even if you think you can-the last thing you want is a stress fracture in the new callus formation
-try put together a routine
-do loads of physio
-get off the heavy pain killers as soon as possible
-when you do walk try and think about what you are doing, as painful as it may be and you may walk slower but focus on how you are rolling your foot, ankle. this will help reduce you compensating the pain by positioning your foot differently and effecting different muscles in your leg and weakening others. it will save you loads of pain later

i suppose the only other thing to do is bury yourself in what you've been wanting to do round the house for example and enjoy the time off work and try cope the best you can with the mental aspects of it too - the whole thing is definatly a challenge

cheers

[altered_ego4]

I am a 22 year old male and have recently had my right tibia, fibula broken in a soccer game about 3 weeks ago, and i fully understand what everyone has been saying. The break that i had was not a compound fracture amazingly because the lower section of bone was pulled on top of the upper section by 3 1/2 inches. I had a titanium rod placed in my leg hours afterwards (which was amazingly painless for me). The only thing that hurt was the fact that to get my calf muscle to release they were required to open my leg open on the side (3 inch cut) and use a spreader to get my bones back in place. After one week i was removed from my cast and placed in a walking boot, and told that i should walk as much as possible if i could stand the pain. I heal relatively quickly compared to most i would think, because i have limited swelling in my ankle now, and relatively no swelling on my leg near the break. I have only had to take pills to get to sleep in the past 2 weeks but i think that is because i have too much energy do to lack of exercise to work off the unused energy. I would advise everyone to try to exercise your ankle as much as possible because i have noticed that it has been helping me regain function faster than anything else. question though, does everyone else have a lack of feeling from your ankle to your toes as i do? I was told that it will take very long for the nerve endings to start firing again and that is kind of depressing. Ohh well, keep your head up i suppose

[Morlock43]

My partner (aged 45) broke his leg when a heap of windows fell on him in mid September 2007, he had nine screws and a plate put in and a graft taken from his hip. It has been 9 weeks since the accident, and he gets worried that he will never be able to walk normally again (which is understandable because the doctors keep telling him it was such a bad brake).
After leaving the hospital 4 days after surgery, his leg was swollen to twice its size, the doctors never explained that this was normal. After about six weeks he no longer needed the painkillers. The physio gave him exercises to do, but he still wasn't able to put any wait on, after 8 weeks he can put 30% weight on the leg, the exercises hurt him, but he says it's not as bad as when he first started them. The Phsyio said he is going well and she is surprised he can do as much as he can. I tell him this is a good sign. The swelling is still there but not as bad - the doctors tell me this may be there for 6 months or more or even for life. My partner says sometimes when he does his exercises he can feel the bone grinding together, this is why he feels its not right. Has anyone else felt this and is it normal in recovery?

[blas20]

Originally Posted by ggilliard

Hi to everyone,
My son is 18 yrs old diabetic since age 2 on an insulin pump now for 6 years doing good but he broke his tibia fibula on oct 13 at 10:15p at work was picked up by ambulance to hospital where they missed his vain and lied to him and told him they gave him 2 doses of morphine when arrived at hospital they told us that the emt lied to us finally the hospital gave 1 dose of morphine and somthing else tried to splint his leg and he was in to much pain they then decided to sedate him and figured out the IV was in his muscle by this time they put an iv in hand and tried to sedate him doctor gave all she could give and they set it with him awake and no pain meds. finally got a room at 3:30 am then he finally was given somthing for pain operated on him 9:30 am on oct 15 doctor told us he put 2 long rods and cables finally got him home on oct 18 and we go to the doctor on tues oct 23 he is in a splint cast in a wheelchair with crutch use he is very strong but we dont know what to expect on healing time thanks for any input Mom ggilliard

Hello Mom ggilliard,

I am a 20 year old female and your son's incident is very close to mine, so I thought maybe we could up date each other on ones progress.

On October 12th at about 11:30 pm I sprial fractured my tib, broke my fib and a couple of bones in my ankle. I was fourtinate to be near a hospital. They got me in right away, gave me morphine and took x-rays. I'm sorry to hear your son had such trouble with the EMT, the IV, and not being on morphine. I know how bad the pain was with out the morphine. The nurses I had were awful, and were not keeping up on the morphine. My parents had to search the halls to find them!

I had surgery on the 13th. They put a titanium rod through the middle of my tib and a couple of screws in my ankle. (6 total) The doctor said the fib would heal by itself. After surgery they put a soft splint on, and I was able to leave the hospital on the 16th. On tues the 23rd I went to the doctor because the splint was shifting and making it very uncomfortable. They took out the 12 staples from 4 different cuts, and put a hard cast on. Also they gave me percocet instead of vicodin. (it was making me crazy) Told me to come back in two weeks. I went on the 6th and all he did was looked at the recent x-rays. Told me to come back in 3 weeks but no promises he was going to take this thing off. I've gone back to work and school (on crutches) So hopefully time will go by a lot faster.

I hope your son is healing fast and hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks blas20