Fractured Tibia and Fibula (Broken Lower Leg Bones) with Fixation Surgery (Part 2) (elbow, surgeons)
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So I broke my tibia and fibula about 2-3 inchs above my ankle. Went to the hospital and THR next day they did fixation surgery putting a rod and 2 screws down I think it was my tibia. So like a week and 3 days goes by, I'm in severe and only had a splint on because of the swelling so I go to the doctors and this is less than two weeks after I broke it. He takes off the splint, has me bend my knee and says ok you can now do full weight bearing on it. WHAT. It's killing me right now and I'm still using a wheelchair 2 days after that. He said the only thing holding me back is my swelling and pain. So I'm wondering if anyone else had this situation and how long the swelling takes to die down and I can't use crutches cause all the blood rushes to my foot and it feels like it's going to explode. Someone tell me how long the swelling takes to go down and when can I start walking semi normal again with no crutches. Remember I'm still in a wheelchair. Thanks
hello,
i am new to this blogsite and i am in search of some answers/advice. my wife had bad car accident the night before thanksgiving 2010. she was operated on the next morning and put into ext fixator. 4 weeks later 2nd surgery(ten hours to put just her tibia back together). 5 days later another surgery to repair her fibula. about 2 months later a fourth surgery to replace some hardware with different hardware and have her knee scoped as well. my wife now has 4 plates and over 20 screws in her left lower leg. i am/was an xray/mri tech in the past so i have a pretty good understanding of the landscape of her situation. her fx's of both bones were distal/closer to her foot. she has been in pt for a while off and on as her intense pain level has procluded her at times to participate in pt. sometimes for weeks! she was put together by a very capable orthopedic trauma surgeon, frankly it was a miracle that he was even able to save her leg. we have recently had to switch ortho's, as the medical from the automobile insurance has been exhausted. now she is seeing a ortho within our health plan. we have an hmo, but the group that her new ortho is in takes it, and they a re a VERY VERY reputable group out of philadelphia. she has seen their number one foot and ankle guy about 2 weeks ago. we were hoping for good news of course, and we got the exact opposite. she was told that her pain that she still has is arthritic, and it will only get worse over time. please understand she is in pain management since the beginning of 2011 to current, and can not imagine being off the meds as her level of pain while walking is very high even with the meds she is on. the current ortho said that he could do a fusion, which would fix the top of the foot to the bottom of the leg in a perminant 90 degree position. he would have to do bone grafts/remove hardware...etc but he is not sure if the pain will be any better than it already is due to her time already on roxicette and methadone. she would also be on her back for a solid 8 to 10 weeks before she could be weight bearing at any level. she has already spent almost 7 months on her back from all of her surgeries. we are at a loss, as her quality of life is minimal at best currently, and we have 4 kids 2 of which are 5 and 13. any advice would be great. has any one out there had break this severe out there. this is NOT YOUR RUN OF THE MILL PILON FX. again she has 4 plates and over 20 screws in her lower leg.
is amputation the answer??
broke tibiaand fibia with massive bonefragments happened july10th 2011 surgery that night put me in a external fixator for 3 wks surgery aug 5th2011 went to see os took staples out and cast me went bck 4week later xrays put new cast on os said come back 8 weeks maybe put boot on almost 17 weeks in major break does any body know what im in for when they put the boot on
it will be painfull at first but somewhat manageable. it will be necessary for you to stay in this boot for as long and as frequent as they tell you to for a couple of reasons....1st it will keep your foot in the position it needs to be in called dorsiflexion. if your foot is not in the correct position the pt will be much harder. you need this correct angle to walk heal to toe, otherwise you will be tripping constantly. my wife is 44 and had a severe pilon fx to her lft lower leg and has 4 plates and over 20 screws....and a crap load of pain still almost a yr from her accident on the night b4 thks giving 2010. good luck to you!
Hi guys,
I'm currently laid up in hospital in the Dominican Republic.
I am a 33yr old South African male and was on a working holiday as a dive instructor here when i was getting a lift with one of my work colleague on a motorbike, when a car came round the corner on the wrong side of the road and hit us head on. My colleague was killed instantly and i was extremely fortunate to only have a broken left leg in 3 places.
My hip has a small fracture. My femur wass badly broken, and i had a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula.
A steel rod was inserted in the femur, 2 screws for the hip, and a steel rod in the tibia.
I have a plastercast from just below the knee down, and the surgery was performed 3 weeks ago now.
My question is this:
After seeing my before and after x-rays, i was worried because the fibula is not even connected where the fracture is. The gap on the x-ray(after op) is about 1.5cm, and the broken parts of the bone are vertically past each other in alignment!
I am not a doctor, but this does not seem likely to repair itself with time? The doctor has told me that the bone will realign itself over the course of the next 3 months while my leg is in plaster?
I have read online that the fibula does not bear much of the weight, but is it normal for this bone to be left unaligned to heal on its own??
Also, my knee is swollen under the bandages, and pretty sore in the evenings, but i believe this is because of the incision made when inserting the steel rod into the tibia.
How long does it take for this pain and swelling to go away?
This is the first time i have broken any bones, and i am just a bit worried that being in the DR and having heard many horror stories about doctors work here, that i might be a statistic?!
Any insight greatly appreciated...
Cheers
Simon
sorry to here about your accident im 17 weeks post op still no wb ihave 2 plates and 15 screws os said 2 weeks come back maybe be walking that will be 19 weeks nwb im ready ive been doing alot of ankle exercise keeping our heads up only time will tell
Hey everyone,
I broke my tibia and fibula playing soccer October 2nd. Late tackle, and the girl took both my legs out and landed on my right leg. Clean break about three inches above my right ankle. The tibia was straight through and the fibula was a tiny bit splintered. By far the most painful thing I've ever experienced, and watching them cut my favourite pair of cleats off was pretty rough too. Anyway, I arrived at the hospital and had to wait 4 hours for pain meds, and after finally getting my xrays, they informed me that I'd be put into a full leg cast. They knocked me out and realigned the bones, and then put it into a splint. I awoke to the even more pain, and was constantly sick from the amount of drugs they had me on. I'm 18 and pretty small, and my PT told me later on that there's no way I should have been on that many medications. I stayed in the hospital for 4 days until they put me into the full leg cast. Stayed another 2 days and was finally out. Following this, I visited the hospital every Tuesday and got xrayed. Each time they would take off my cast and then put a tighter one on (was losing weight/muscle really fast), while pushing on my leg to try and move the tibia. The tibia was at a 10 degree angle but my doctor insisted it was fine. He assured me that even if it healed on an angle like that, I wouldn`t encounter any ankle, knee or hip problems. My physio advised differently. At the beginning of November, I decided to get some more professional opinions. Every doctor I went to told me that they thought I should have had the surgery when I first arrived in the ER, but because it had already been a month, it was up to me. I went with the surgery and had a titanium rod, 4 pins, and screws inserted into the Tibia. Again, I woke up in an extreme amount of pain. I can't describe how painful it was waking up, especially waking up on my own. I was in the hospital for another week. I was not given a splint OR cast. They told me the rod would act as an INTERNAL cast. Doc said it'd probably be a month till I was walking again. I began rehab 5 days later, and was told I could be FWB to the best of my ability. It was impossible. My knee was gigantic and my ankle was disgusting. I could still feel where the bones were broken as well. It has now been exactly 3 weeks and 2 days. I have been at physio for at least 4 hours every day and I ice whenever I'm not there. I barely go to class anymore though, and I don`t work as all my time`s put into this leg. Honestly, I want to play again more than I want anything in the world. I can walk on my own now, with the use of a cane. I put the crutches away at the 2 week mark. Because I was in a full leg cast for over a month, I lost most of my leg muscle but it's coming back slowly. Every day is extremely painful. I wake up in the morning and I can't walk at all, but once I've stretched my knee and my ankle a bit, I can walk with the cane. After an hour or so with the cane, I can walk very slowly on my own with a noticeable limp. At night and after physio, I can`t walk as well. My goal is to be running by Christmas.
My doctor and PT have told me the more weight bearing I am, the more bone growth will be generated. My most recent Xrays show that the bones haven`t built calcium up yet... but that was at 2 weeks after surgery.
Lesson learned: Always ask for a second opinion. And PHYSIOTHERAPY is incredibly essential.
Last edited by ksoccer10; 11-30-2011 at 11:31 PM..
Hey there, I recieved the same surgery as you on the tibia and fibula. Nothing was done to the fib and they told me that it would heal on its own. It`s not a weight bearing bone. It`s been 3 weeks for me and I`m walking with a cane. The bones are still broken but it is my knee and ankle that give me the most pain. The fibula isn`t the bone to worry about! It may heal at a different angle but it will be fine. It`s very common for nothing to be done to it.
Hey there, I recieved the same surgery as you on the tibia and fibula. Nothing was done to the fib and they told me that it would heal on its own. It`s not a weight bearing bone. It`s been 3 weeks for me and I`m walking with a cane. The bones are still broken but it is my knee and ankle that give me the most pain. The fibula isn`t the bone to worry about! It may heal at a different angle but it will be fine. It`s very common for nothing to be done to it.
Not always. My surgery was just to repair the fibula. I had a spiral fracture and my foot was facing the wrong way after I fell (the heel was in front). Only the fibula was broken, but in my case it was never going to heal on its own.
2 years ago I was in a car accident and came out with a compound tib/fib fracture in my left leg. In surgery I was given 5 screws, a rod, and a plate. A year after my accident I had surgery to get the screws removed because I was experiencing pain. I am 20 years old and I am an athlete. I play sports constantly. I also do a lot of outdoor activities like hiking.
I am having pain nearly every day now. The pain runs up both sides of my leg and under the scar in my knee where they inserted screws. Its to the paint where to get through the day i'm taking multiple doses of ibuprofen or tylenol. Running hurts more than walking but walking hurts a significant amount still.
What do I do?
Is there anything I can do to make the pain go away?
Is there some kind of brace I can wear?
I do not want to give up my active lifestyle I have, its who I am and I can not imagine living without it.
I need help. Any advice will be appreciated
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extreme pilon fx of lft lower leg
