Pin Removal

[KTMSMITH]

I am almost recovered from a nasty leg break I had in September of 2001. I broke my tibia, fibia and ankle. I have had two surgeries and now have a metal rod the length of my lower leg and 3 pins. I am scheduled to have pins removed in two weeks. Has anybody had a similiar injury and can you relate how long it took to recover from pin removal. At this point I don't think I will remove the rod. Doc originally thought we would take it out in 1 year, but after consulting with other orthos, he is leaning towards leaving it in. My ortho admits he does not have much experience with motorcyle related breaks, and has consulted with other orthos who do , and they say leave it in. I am finally able to train without pain and plan on riding soon, but wonder if this pin removal will delay my riding and racing. I do have the option of leaving pins in, but they are causing pain..and Doc says they increase the likelihood of a break..becasue they provide a stress point. Any thoughts or similiar experiences?

 

[Battered Sav]

Wow, sounds like a nasty break, only experience I can relate is srews I had in my hand. If similiar to your situation, recovery shouldn't take long, it's not like a break however it is still surgery, so take it easy.
Good Luck.

 

[JTT]

I was told 4-6 weeks to recover from removing femural nail...guess it depends a lot on the complexity of the surgery and how much pain you are willing to endure during recover :scream:

 

[tonyc]

I had a plate and 8 screws removed from my tibia on 21 Dec 01, raced for the first time last weekend, rode for the first time the week before, ( tibia and fib June 00)
No pain, infact I had hardly any pain at all after the op.
Hope this helps.

 

[HLT]

KTMS,
My son has a steel rod in his tibia also. He was unable to ride or work out with out pain where the screws were that held it in place. Had the screws removed and after a recovery time from that, most of the pain went away. As for the complete removal of the tibial nail, it depends on who you talk to. But the concensus seems to be 12 to 18 mos. After 18 mos, they can get harder to remove. Go to a good sports ortho that treats that injury regularly and get another opinion after that. The procedure for removal is nearly as involved and invasive as when you had it put in. Hope this helps.

 

[KTMSMITH]

Thanks for all the info guys. I had two of the three screws removed 5 days ago. I wanted all three out but the doc decided against it when he opened me up. Its hard knowing if your ortho is just being careful or is giving it too ya straight. I get different responses from different people. I talked to Chuck Woodford, a top ten GNCC racer who had a similiar injury as mine. He was racing in 14 weeks. I am 5 months into this and my doc still says stay off bike. In fact it was Woodford who told me to leave the rod in my leg. Prior to that my Doc wanted to take it out in 12 months. Now he is saying to leave it in. Arrrr! What to do, What to do.

 

[smb_racing]

my injury wasn't as severe as yours obviously, but I suffered a gash in leg right along my knee, torn cartilage, ligaments, everything. Also chipped the end off of my femur, which was nailed back in place with a two pins. The doc said that he could remove them but it'd be a fairly invasive surgery and the healing time could take another few months. He also said that if I didn't remove them within a few months after the surgery the bone would grow over the tops of them, thus if I ever needed them removed they'd have to grind away the bone. That was 6 years ago and I still have the pins. No MRI's for me :silly: