Should I have removed medical material used to fix a broken arm?
Asked by
skfinkel (
13542
)
January 15th, 2018
In order to fix two badly shattered bones in my arm, the surgeon put in ten screws and a plate to hold it together while it healed. A year later, my arm is knitted together, but the titanium screws and plate is still there. I can have it all removed, it’s an easier operation. But, it is an operation, and it will take six weeks again to heal (the other was longer, but much more serious, obviously). There is apparently nothing horrible about leaving the screws etc. there. However, I find I am mildly aware of it.
So my choice: leave it alone and know it’s there, or
remove it and recuperate and leave myself up to the slim chance of infection. But then it will be gone and my arm will be just my own bones.
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Personally I would probably avoid an unnecessary surgery if they weren’t bugging me too much. What does your doctor have to say about the two options?
Depends on how old you are.
The reason I ask is that as we age, the strength or our bones diminishes as they lose calcium. If you are in your teens/early twenties, your bones will most likely gain their strength back. But if you are over forty, your muscles have gotten brittle enough to need the reinforcement of the plate and screws.
Have a frank discussion with your doctor.
I had two vitallium screws inserted in my knee as part of a surgical repair. They told me it was fine to leave them in place indefinitely. This was in the 1970s. However, at the time I lived in the Northeast, and the cold really got into that metal and ached like crazy. So after a year I had them removed. There’s been no problem.
Seven years ago a metal plate was installed in my right wrist after I shattered it. The plate is still there and has only once or twice been of concern when I was passing through a metal detector. Otherwise, no problem there either. I expect it to remain in place permanently.
From those experiences, which are worth about as much anecdotally as you think they are, I’d say leave them, as long as they’re not causing you a problem and you’re confident that it’s safe. But if you think you’re going to end up having them removed, I’d say do it sooner rather than later just because healing is easier and quicker if you’re younger.
I had my hardware removed
Wolverine left his hardware in.
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