Surgical Pins

[Cutiebaby]

Anybody here ever have surgical pins or K wire placed to hold their displaced bones together? If so how was the recovery, was it painful, was it a long road until healed?
My son may need surgical pin in his metatarsal and I was wondering if it would be faster and less painful than the old fashioned way of wearing a cast for a while. My only downfall is that he won't be able to play professional sports nor join the military due to xrays and the pin showing...

 

[lanky]

Anybody here ever have surgical pins or K wire placed to hold their displaced bones together? If so how was the recovery, was it painful, was it a long road until healed?
My son may need surgical pin in his metatarsal and I was wondering if it would be faster and less painful than the old fashioned way of wearing a cast for a while. My only downfall is that he won't be able to play professional sports nor join the military due to xrays and the pin showing...

in general ,the use of pins in surgery is to prevent displacement in certain types/sevarity/location...."faster and less painfull" is not top priority here he will be given medications for pain control during/after surgery and prescription or otc meds at home,, correct and complete recovery is what orthopedic docs are concerned with,,,you mentioned that is your son is young , which is good,,they tend to heal quicker than say a 84 year old diabetic woman with dementia who will be noncompliant with weight bearing status and unable to use crutches. what makes you think he wont be able to play professional sports in the future or join the military? this may be a pin that will be removed a few weeks after surgery possibly? what types of things has the ortho doc told you?

 

[needtogetaas]

in general ,the use of pins in surgery is to prevent displacement in certain types/sevarity/location...."faster and less painfull" is not top priority here he will be given medications for pain control during/after surgery and prescription or otc meds at home,, correct and complete recovery is what orthopedic docs are concerned with,,,you mentioned that is your son is young , which is good,,they tend to heal quicker than say a 84 year old diabetic woman with dementia who will be noncompliant with weight bearing status and unable to use crutches. what makes you think he wont be able to play professional sports in the future or join the military? this may be a pin that will be removed a few weeks after surgery possibly? what types of things has the ortho doc told you?

No the pin stays in If he gets it. Its in his foot so yes it will make problems if he wants to join the army later. Foot problems=can't get in the us forces later.

 

[Cutiebaby]

in general ,the use of pins in surgery is to prevent displacement in certain types/sevarity/location...."faster and less painfull" is not top priority here he will be given medications for pain control during/after surgery and prescription or otc meds at home,, correct and complete recovery is what orthopedic docs are concerned with,,,you mentioned that is your son is young , which is good,,they tend to heal quicker than say a 84 year old diabetic woman with dementia who will be noncompliant with weight bearing status and unable to use crutches. what makes you think he wont be able to play professional sports in the future or join the military? this may be a pin that will be removed a few weeks after surgery possibly? what types of things has the ortho doc told you?

Basically nothing that I dont already know. I know that at his age it is highly possible that the bone will unionize on it's own opposed to say myself. I know that if the bone is not showing any signs then they will schedule an appt for the surgery. He has not really sat me down or told me anything about pain, or recovery time. I tried looking around a bit and heard many different amounts of time. some say 2-4 and some say 4-8. I was also interested in knowing if people who did receive the pins ever have pain like arthritis and such after a few years has gone by.

 

[SaladFork]

Anybody here ever have surgical pins or K wire placed to hold their displaced bones together? If so how was the recovery, was it painful, was it a long road until healed?
My son may need surgical pin in his metatarsal and I was wondering if it would be faster and less painful than the old fashioned way of wearing a cast for a while. My only downfall is that he won't be able to play professional sports nor join the military due to xrays and the pin showing...

I broke my patella in half in 1996-97. Horizontal in one clean break, I hit a tree in my truck and the speaker box drove me into the dash breaking my knee. I spent two days in the hospital and 6 hours in surgery. They had to wire my knee and place two pins in to hold it all together. I had a strait leg cast for almost 12 months and by time I started physical therapy my leg was about the same circumfluence as my arm and I could only bend it 10-15 degrees due to all the scar tissue. I worked on it for quite awhile and got most of the muscle back but have had to endure six more surgeries. One time one of the pins was working its way out of the top of my knee so I went in and they pulled one of the pins. Now the dumb ass Dr. should have just removed all the hardware since the pins where holding the wire together. A month later the wire started to tangle and one of the sharp ends was starting to poke through my skin and it hurt like a mofo. So I had to go in for another visit this time they put me out and removed all the hardware THANK GOD. I have been back three more times to have them go behind my knee cap and remove scar tissue so I could get my full range of motion back. Ten years later and it’s almost as good as new, minus the really, really cold days. Squats are not fun either, but I’m happy to have a fully semi functional knee. I do triathlons now and it really never bugs me and I have a kick ass 12” scar all the way down my knee.

In my situation the hardware was needed. I think at his young age a cast would be fine, however I do not know the extent of the damage and I’m no Dr. Was this from the sledding accident? Poor little guy =(

I know when I had the pins and wire in my knee I was always pampering it and scared of hurting it again since I could feel and see the hardware. Hope he gets better, and if he does get some pins I think you could have them removed after it’s healed, I know they make pins that disolve after a few months maybe ask about those?

Hope this helps.
T-

 

[6FULLMETALTRUCKIE9]

first off most of the guys are right it depends on how bad the break is and you shold she what the doc recomends for your son. I myself have had both pins and wire and they don't need to stay in as long as you think . They are removable a few months or even a year after the fact. I'm just now having the pins and wire removed from my knee after 15 years cause the head of the pins are bothering me at this point. just make sure when they take out one thing they do it all cause it's a bitch for them to go back in time after time cause of the buildup of scare tissue and the pain you'll get from going under the knife again and again! Good luck to you and your son.belive me lots of us know what he's going through

 

[Cutiebaby]

I broke my patella in half in 1996-97. Horizontal in one clean break, I hit a tree in my truck and the speaker box drove me into the dash breaking my knee. I spent two days in the hospital and 6 hours in surgery. They had to wire my knee and place two pins in to hold it all together. I had a strait leg cast for almost 12 months and by time I started physical therapy my leg was about the same circumfluence as my arm and I could only bend it 10-15 degrees due to all the scar tissue. I worked on it for quite awhile and got most of the muscle back but have had to endure six more surgeries. One time one of the pins was working its way out of the top of my knee so I went in and they pulled one of the pins. Now the dumb ass Dr. should have just removed all the hardware since the pins where holding the wire together. A month later the wire started to tangle and one of the sharp ends was starting to poke through my skin and it hurt like a mofo. So I had to go in for another visit this time they put me out and removed all the hardware THANK GOD. I have been back three more times to have them go behind my knee cap and remove scar tissue so I could get my full range of motion back. Ten years later and it’s almost as good as new, minus the really, really cold days. Squats are not fun either, but I’m happy to have a fully semi functional knee. I do triathlons now and it really never bugs me and I have a kick ass 12” scar all the way down my knee.

In my situation the hardware was needed. I think at his young age a cast would be fine, however I do not know the extent of the damage and I’m no Dr. Was this from the sledding accident? Poor little guy =(

I know when I had the pins and wire in my knee I was always pampering it and scared of hurting it again since I could feel and see the hardware. Hope he gets better, and if he does get some pins I think you could have them removed after it’s healed, I know they make pins that disolve after a few months maybe ask about those?

Hope this helps.
T-

Holy shit!!!!! Well glad that it is finally back to normal minus the cold days...That was a hella long recovery!
I will definitely ask about the dissolving pins, thanks for that.
- I was thinking the same thing. Because he is so young it should be able to heal and grow on it's own. I look at it like either way he will be casted for a long time. With the pins in place they say possible 10 weeks, without the pins he said the cast would stay on longer than the typical 4-6 weeks.
Yes, it happened during a sledding accident. Going down a hill and a stump that had previously been covered by snow and then smashed right into it. He has his follow up visit on this coming monday, so we shall see...
thanks all

 

[musclemom]

My son had to have his elbow temporarily pinned. He broke his olecranon, which is the name of the very tip of your elbow. In his case the surgery was not optional.

The type of pinning he had was quite traumatic. The pins were shaped like giant crochet hooks and they literally went up into the center of his upper arm bone and then the hooks held the tip of the elbow in place. I wish I had paid closer attention to what the doctors told me about giving him pain killers the minute I was supposed to. He had a horrible night the first night after the surgery, and my son has a very, VERY high pain tolerance threshold.

Having a pin placed in your bone is more painful (initially) than just casting the bone. However, the fracture generally heals faster. If he's one of those kids whose really going to rebel, not stay off the foot to give the bones time to knit then maybe getting the pin might be best, but seriously, give him all the painkillers the doctors say.

 

[Cutiebaby]

My son had to have his elbow temporarily pinned. He broke his olecranon, which is the name of the very tip of your elbow. In his case the surgery was not optional.

The type of pinning he had was quite traumatic. The pins were shaped like giant crochet hooks and they literally went up into the center of his upper arm bone and then the hooks held the tip of the elbow in place. I wish I had paid closer attention to what the doctors told me about giving him pain killers the minute I was supposed to. He had a horrible night the first night after the surgery, and my son has a very, VERY high pain tolerance threshold.

Having a pin placed in your bone is more painful (initially) than just casting the bone. However, the fracture generally heals faster. If he's one of those kids whose really going to rebel, not stay off the foot to give the bones time to knit then maybe getting the pin might be best, but seriously, give him all the painkillers the doctors say.

He is doing great. He was given orders that he can place pressure on the heal as they beefed up the heel with extra padding because with the adhd they figured that he would be up on it constantly. However he hasnt even used the heel at all, the pt lady wants to start getting him to use the heel this upcoming week. He has been execellent!

 

[musclemom]

He is doing great. He was given orders that he can place pressure on the heal as they beefed up the heel with extra padding because with the adhd they figured that he would be up on it constantly. However he hasnt even used the heel at all, the pt lady wants to start getting him to use the heel this upcoming week. He has been execellent!

Go to the health food store, pick up a glucosamine/chondroitin and also magnesium/calcium/phosphorous combination, give him half the dose recommended for an adult.

Make some soups with homemade bone stocks, but really boil the shit out of the carcasses/bones, like cook them for eight or so hours, you want the kind of stock that once they get cold you've got a bowl of jello. Give him a bowl of soup a day.

Right nutrients, lots of rest, no worries about the pin.

 

[Cutiebaby]

Update-
My son went in for the 2 week check, great results. The dr says that in 2 more weeks 3 out of the 4 will be completely healed. The one totally displaced metatarsal that required pins is showing signs of unionizing. Therefor no pins are necesarry at this point. We go back in 2 more weeks, although I think we will go back today as the new cast is on too tight and his foot is swollen..Other than that fantastic news!!!!

 

[SaladFork]

Awesome news Angel!!

 

[Cutiebaby]

Here we are 6 weeks out. My boy is in bed right now sleeping, without a cast!!!! It was removed today. Even the dr. was amazed and made a statement that never has he seen a child with such a high threat of surgery recover in the standard normal time that a regular fracture heals.
his foot is obviously still swollen but there is limited bruising, the toes are in correct shape, etc. He was still not getting the hang of walking on it when he went to bed due to the feeling of not having the cast and of course the swelling. However the Dr states the swelling will be a bit of a pain in the butt at first because the ligaments and shit are not used to moving in this way but all should be fine in a few weeks. He is full weight baring and no cast nor crutches. I am so happy....See I knew my boy, and I knew he did not need surgery!

 

[SaladFork]

Here we are 6 weeks out. My boy is in bed right now sleeping, without a cast!!!! It was removed today. Even the dr. was amazed and made a statement that never has he seen a child with such a high threat of surgery recover in the standard normal time that a regular fracture heals.
his foot is obviously still swollen but there is limited bruising, the toes are in correct shape, etc. He was still not getting the hang of walking on it when he went to bed due to the feeling of not having the cast and of course the swelling. However the Dr states the swelling will be a bit of a pain in the butt at first because the ligaments and shit are not used to moving in this way but all should be fine in a few weeks. He is full weight baring and no cast nor crutches. I am so happy....See I knew my boy, and I knew he did not need surgery!

Fantastic news Angel!! Once again, it always amazes me what the human body is capable of.

 

[6FULLMETALTRUCKIE9]

glad to hear it. See kids are stronger then we adults worry like I told you lol !