bone grafting
Hi.
. . me again (pain in the ankle) hopefully not literally from your point of view by now:) Went to the orhto yesterday and have scheduled the surgery for this Friday.
He’s gonna “clean” up the area, and put pins and a use a bone graft to fix the medial malleolus.
Oh, and I get to be in a cast again, only because I begged for one. . . kidding. . . it kind of went the other way and he wouldn’t budge on not getting the cast.
When it comes to bone grafts. . . I’ve been doing research about it and find that there are many types of grafts you guys can use.
My Dr. said he would be using cadaver bone.
I see that cadaver bone can be rejected or transfer disease.
Is that really something to worry about?
Do you use cadaver bone or do you prefer other grafting materials?
I also noticed that electrical stimulators may be used after the surgery to speed healing.
Does that really work well, and should I ask to use that?
I’m trying to find anything to help speed recovery.
I leave for work in Alaska in 7 weeks, and as you well now that’s about how long it will take to get this thing healed.
I wont be headed back for TX until next Oct.
So I really can’t afford to prolong any of this for much longer.
Thanks again Dr. Abrams! -Steph
2 comments
Vivian Abrams DPM
You are cutting it close (pardon the pun)! I hope you realize that just because you get out of the cast, you will have to rehab the ankle. I don’t know what job you will be doing in Alaska, but you might want to consider this. Does the surgeon know your plans?As far as using cadaver bone, the testing is very comprehensive on this. Your own bone is better because it has all your stuff in it and you are not starting from a skeletal matrix. Unfortunately, it requires a 2nd site surgery. If and when an insurance company covers a bone stimulator, they usually require non healing for 90 days prior. These are expensive items and the insurance companies are not wild about paying for them. If you can get one, by all means do so. It will probably help with the healing.
kathy
I had a bone graft in my 4th and 5th digit toes on the right foot in Aug of 05. I continue to have lots of pain and the incision hasn’t healed fully. I developed a callous on the fifth toe. Cadaver bone was used for this surgery. Is is possible that my body is rejecting the bone or is this common to have pain 6 months after surgery. The surgery was done to correct a previous sugery in which too much bone was removed wich left me with nub toes.