SIGforum
Medical Folk, Is This A Good Repair

This topic can be found at:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/7550002184

April 11, 2021, 04:26 PM
Mars_Attacks
Medical Folk, Is This A Good Repair
Tabitha fell and broke her finger back in February. I took her to the ER and they let a surgeon look at it and he determined it needed pins.

This is what he did and now her finger is almost 90° out, the tendon is stuck to the repair and the therapist can get no movement.

Now he wants to remove the brace, break the finger again and put a new brace in it AND break the joint free.

Should this have been apparent by the post OP radiograph? Even I could see this was not a good repair.

This is going to be extremely painful and all they gave her last time was tramidol.




____________________________

Eeewwww, don't touch it!
Here, poke at it with this stick.
April 11, 2021, 04:59 PM
MikeinNC
Ouch, I hope she gets this worked out...



"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein

“You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020

“A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker
April 11, 2021, 05:21 PM
mike28w
Any other orthopedic surgeons in the area ??? Even better , if you can find one that specializes in hands.... That's what I'd do if she were my wife ( or me).
April 11, 2021, 05:21 PM
YooperSigs
I broke my leg some years ago and my break looked very much like the break you show in the X-ray. It was set without plates or pins at first, but small pieces of bone acted like ball bearings which would allow the two broken pieces to move back and forth. The angles of the break helped it to move.
So... they cut open my leg, cleaned the break of the small bone chips and bolted the whole mess together with a plate and screws. 6 months in a fiberglass cast from my gonads to the top of my foot. After it healed, they went in and removed the hardware. The resultant scar tissue has reduced the movement of my ankle and is non-repairable. My physical therapy to allow my knee (it atrophied while casted) to return to full movement was extensive and hurt!
But... nothing ever stuck to the hardware I had. I can see this being hard to repair but your experience seems a bit much. Are you seeing a specialist hand surgeon?


End of Earth: 2 Miles
Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
April 11, 2021, 05:30 PM
BurtonRW
I happen to know one of the best hand surgeons in the Baltimore/Washington region. I’m going to send the image to him and see what he thinks. I’ll let you know.

-Rob




I predict that there will be many suggestions and statements about the law made here, and some of them will be spectacularly wrong. - jhe888

A=A
April 11, 2021, 05:53 PM
kkina
It might actually have been OK. When I broke my thumb, it was misaligned like that. The surgeon explained it was a valid option to let it heal as is, as bone has a tremendous ability to fill in.

In fact, they did initially realign it, but the bone shifted during healing and became misaligned again. It healed just fine. In truth, I would never even know about it as it's totally unnoticeable to me.



ACCU-STRUT FOR MINI-14
"First, Eyes."
April 11, 2021, 06:06 PM
Mars_Attacks
Her finger is turned 90 degrees now and it sticks out and the joints don't work.

He is scheduling for the new surgery on the 27th.


____________________________

Eeewwww, don't touch it!
Here, poke at it with this stick.
April 11, 2021, 06:11 PM
TXJIM
If you even suspect he did a poor job the first time, why would you use him again? Find another surgeon and get a second option.


______________________________
“I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.”
― John Wayne
April 11, 2021, 06:15 PM
kkina
OK, the 90-degrees I don't know about.



ACCU-STRUT FOR MINI-14
"First, Eyes."
April 11, 2021, 07:21 PM
9x18
I have used a local hand surgeon that also now teaches at Emory. Email me if you'd like her contact info.

My hands are now so much better!
April 11, 2021, 07:26 PM
highroundcount
quote:
Originally posted by BurtonRW:
I happen to know one of the best hand surgeons in the Baltimore/Washington region. I’m going to send the image to him and see what he thinks. I’ll let you know.

-Rob


I don't know what to say as I'm not a doctor.

But thank you for helping Marz as this seems like a giant cluster. You have a good soul.


___________________________________Sigforum - port in the fake news storm.____________Be kind to the Homeless. A lot of us are one bad decision away from there.
April 11, 2021, 07:27 PM
highroundcount
quote:
Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
Her finger is turned 90 degrees now and it sticks out and the joints don't work.

He is scheduling for the new surgery on the 27th.


fucking terrible with today's modern medicine.

I'm so sorry.

Makes me sick. No reason for this


___________________________________Sigforum - port in the fake news storm.____________Be kind to the Homeless. A lot of us are one bad decision away from there.
April 11, 2021, 07:29 PM
1s1k
That’s terrible alignment using a pin. Don’t go back to that hack find a new person. That type of injury should be cake for a good ortho.
April 11, 2021, 07:42 PM
highroundcount
The membership has spoken.

Sounds like run toward the dark hills screaming and get it fixed correct.

Then sue the shitface that butchered the job.

Good luck my friend.


___________________________________Sigforum - port in the fake news storm.____________Be kind to the Homeless. A lot of us are one bad decision away from there.
April 11, 2021, 11:51 PM
heavyd
Get a consultation with an orthopedic surgeon at Resurgens Orthopaedics. They have several hand specialists that are some of the best in the nation.


H. Dean Phillips
$99 Gun Trusts
https://nfalawyers.com
April 12, 2021, 12:45 AM
Excam_Man
quote:
Originally posted by highroundcount:

fucking terrible with today's modern medicine.

I'm so sorry.

Makes me sick. No reason for this


^^^ pretty much sums up my thoughts on the situation.

I'd be looking for someone else...




April 12, 2021, 10:11 AM
Mars_Attacks
The hospital has ordered it be redone and there will be no bill for any of it.

This radiograph is from 6 weeks ago when they made the repair. I didn't like it, but I don't question the doctor.

However this was new Rolex expensive. New car expensive. Fucking new tractor expensive. It should have been better.

Her hand is already severely limited with the paralysis, this makes is exponentially worse.


____________________________

Eeewwww, don't touch it!
Here, poke at it with this stick.
April 12, 2021, 11:42 AM
sleepla8er
.

Mars, in addition to locating an Orthopedic Hand Surgeon to perform the procedure, please have a consult with the Anesthesiologist.

Complications increase for older patients being placed under general anesthesia. To save costs, many hospitals are using Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.

RN Anesthetist perform a number of the same types of procedures as MD Anesthesiologists, but RN Anesthetist are not medical doctors even if they hold a doctoral PhD degree.

Please ask the person assigned to your wife if they are a MD or RN PhD. The conversation you need to have with them is about the possible side effects of the planned anesthesia on a patient who is your wife's age and if what they have planned is the best anesthesia practice for someone her age or just cost effective?

.
April 12, 2021, 02:35 PM
slabsides45
I see that clearly the surgeon did not achieve anatomical reduction, where we strive to get the bones lined back up precisely. I can't speak to the plate he used, except that if the plate impinged on either joint's ability to flex/extend it would cause rapid joint deterioration and arthritic changes. No lateral view is provided so we only have a portion of the full info.

Hard to say what happened without the current rads from the most recent visit. That would be instructional.

In many cases on the animal surgery side, we never achieve anatomical reduction and instead settle for approximation of the two fracture sites. It generally works well and the patients return to normal function for the most part. Might be what this surgeon was thinking.


________________________________________________

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving."
-Dr. Adrian Rogers
April 12, 2021, 05:27 PM
Mars_Attacks
Does this help?




____________________________

Eeewwww, don't touch it!
Here, poke at it with this stick.