Tib/Fib Fracture and Hardware

[superego]

I recently broke my leg and had orthopedic surgery. I have steel rod running through the center of my tibia (the entire length) and three screws (two near the ankle and one near the knee). I was just wondering if I should be at all concerned about any airspaces in my bone that might cause problems diving. My surgeon told me he wasn't entirely sure how it would affect diving, other than the fact that if there is any kind of gap between my bone and the rod, by body should eventually fill it in. I'm going on 5 weeks post-op and don't plan diving until as early as February, provided physical therapy goes well. Thanks for the help.

superego

 

[dancingtortuga]

I also had a tib/fib fracture with hardware. Fracture occurred in 2000. I have been advised by several orthos that there are no diving concerns & have been on numerous diving trips with no problems. Hope your recovery goes well - I KNOW what a drag it can be.

 

[Mo2vation]

I recently broke my leg and had orthopedic surgery. I have steel rod running through the center of my tibia (the entire length) and three screws (two near the ankle and one near the knee). I was just wondering if I should be at all concerned about any airspaces in my bone that might cause problems diving. My surgeon told me he wasn't entirely sure how it would affect diving, other than the fact that if there is any kind of gap between my bone and the rod, by body should eventually fill it in. I'm going on 5 weeks post-op and don't plan diving until as early as February, provided physical therapy goes well. Thanks for the help.

superego

Spiral fracture in early September - tib/fib. I was driving at about 2 weeks, walked in about 3.5 weeks (shuffle more than walk) and was free walking in 5 weeks (no crutches or cane) and at 7 weeks to the day (this past sat) I made 3 dives in the Cat dive park. Apart from the swimming in circles thing, you should have no issues.

Kidding.

The swelling is still there, so I sort of customized a Chuck Taylor Converse for footzilla. But its all good. Frog kicking will come back slowly - its mostly mod flutter for now.

Sounds like the same thing - 10mm titanium rod, one distal screw, two ankle screws, the whole 9. I'm gonna get the top screw out in a few weeks - we'll see what happens then. But I have full weight on it, excellent range of motion in the knee (like 99%) and very good vertical range in the foot. My lateral range is still not great - but it won't be for some time. Dressing for scuba was a little slower than normal, but I had a great group of patient SoCal divers rooting for me.

You should really have no worries about getting back in the water when you feel like you're ready. I would have gone in a little sooner, but I'm glad I didn't.

I've posted lots of pics and progress reports on SB over the last 7 weeks - if you do a search on my handle (mo2vation) you'll find them - if you're interested.

It was one of the greatest things - getting back in the water last weekend. I'm pretty fired up to dive again this weekend.

PM me if you wanna talk about stuff.

K

 

[jagfish]

Mo2
I had no idea you just went through all that...glad to hear you are getting along well.

About a decade ago, I used to educate physicians on these systems because they were rather new then, and did a lot of "instruction" in the OR, as well as post op followup data gathering. I don't remember the exact average time, but smallish air gaps in the body do not last long at all. I'm going to suppose that the amount of time you have been post op is way sufficient, but you should get a true medical opinion before diving...I can't afford to lose a license I never had

 

[Mo2vation]

Mo2
I had no idea you just went through all that...glad to hear you are getting along well.

About a decade ago, I used to educate physicians on these systems because they were rather new then, and did a lot of "instruction" in the OR, as well as post op followup data gathering. I don't remember the exact average time, but smallish air gaps in the body do not last long at all. I'm going to suppose that the amount of time you have been post op is way sufficient, but you should get a true medical opinion before diving...I can't afford to lose a license I never had

Jag - wow. Who knew??

It happened in the mountains when I was fishing (who breaks a t/f when fishing.... nice) and the hospital was one of those shi-shi mountain resort community hospitals. The Ortho Surgeon did about 127 of these last winter alone... so it took all of 56 minutes on the OR.

These guys were great, and I can't believe how fast things are healing up. I understand the swelling will be with me for up to a year - that's no fun. But at least the run-away swelling stopped about a week or so ago - it gets fat but then stops. Pretty Flintstone-esque, but a little shy of full-on Elephant Man these days.

It always amazes me, the diversity of people we draw to this board. So amazing.

K

 

[jagfish]

The concept of that procedure is pretty amazing, huh? Slap a rod of Titanium or stainless inside your bone...

Still staggers my mind even though I've seen hundreds...

 

[Dr Deco]

As far as residual gas (air) around the metal, this should be absorbed by the body within a matter of days, if not sooner. That aspect should not present a problem with DCS.

The other responders indicate that they have not encountered any problems in the DCS area.

Dr Deco

 

[SueMermaid]

There's a lot of stuff about the biology of tissue that amazes me. You can do amazing things to your body and heal from it. We're better than any character in an Arnold Schwarzeneger film!

 

[Stoo]

I was going to ask a question regarding this very situation. My partner fractured her tibia (6 places) and her fibula, skiing about 22 months ago. She is also the proud owner of a nice rod, but has since had 4 screws removed. It was extremely slow to mend and was declared "non-union" after several months of minimal bone growth. Several months of using a "bone growth stimulator" proved successful, and she was declared "98% cured" by her ortho doc in November. She has resumed most activities, including skiing, although at a reduced intensity.

We are heading to Roatan in three weeks, and if I am reading you guys correctly, she shouldn't have any problems related to this fracture site. She is a novice diver, and won't be doing anything too deep or long.

If anyone has any updates on their post-fracture return to diving I would appreciate hearing them.

Thanks!

 

[Mo2vation]

If anyone has any updates on their post-fracture return to diving I would appreciate hearing them.

Thanks!

As I posted on here someplace - I got back in the water pretty quickly. I healed very, very quickly, and I had to get back in the groove. I broke it in early September, and by the end of October I was diving again.

Since then, I have a lot of dives on it - all kinds of dives. Boat dives, shore dives, deeper rec dives, long shallow lobster dives, surge, smooov water, etc.

The only long term issues that remain are my knee - its a bit stiff when I'm immobile or cold, and my ankle still has the limited forward range of motion that is common with a T/F. But the swelling that was supposed to "be with me for a year" is pretty much not there... just a bump on the shin.

Its interesting to try to explain to the TSA at the airport, when I get wanded (it doesn't set off the alarms... but when I get pulled out of line to get wanded, it gets weird) that I have some SS screws in my leg. The wand beeps, I roll down my sock, they see the little scar, its all good.

Seriously - diving is not an issue. I've worked hard on strength and flexibility, and I'm in better shape than I was before the accident. I'm stronger and more mobile... and there are no issues related to depth, stress, cold, etc.

Funny story: About two weeks ago I had a business trip to Minnesota to see a client. They were having a warm spell, and it was in the 20's and not the -20's... there was some ice on the parking lot I needed to walk across to get to the client's place. If you recall, it was ice I slipped on in September when I broke the T/F... so this was my first return to an icy walk.

It kinda freaked me out a bit, and I took it slow - but its all good. I consider myself 100% healed - and 100% blessed.

---
Ken