Will titanium rod in the leg be affected during diving?

[Progen]

I'll be going for my Open Water certification after next week but have done quite a few confined water dives since I have my own equipment. I plan to go as far as instructor level and perhaps even go for commercial dive training so I was wondering whether the rod in my leg or the bones will be affected during diving to greater depths of say 30 - 40 metres?

I don't have any issues with daily life since it's from an old motorbike injury where I hit a cab at high speed and lived to tell the tale. I still cycle, kick sandbags, run and everything else normally.

ps. I'm hoping someone here will know because there're no doctors specializing in diving related matters where I am.

 

[farsidefan1]

I carry some of that in my knee. 10 weeks after surgery (total replacement) I was diving in Fiji having been told, "no issues". There are some good doctors in here that can guide you further but I certainly cannot think of any problem and I have been diving with several others with various metalic inserts. Seek a doctors opinion but do so without any trepidation and if some doctor tells you not to do it seek a second opinion

 

[Teller]

I have four pins and a plate from an injury in Iraq. No issues yet. Im not a doctor though.

 

[Nemrod]

I'll be going for my Open Water certification after next week but have done quite a few confined water dives since I have my own equipment. I plan to go as far as instructor level and perhaps even go for commercial dive training so I was wondering whether the rod in my leg or the bones will be affected during diving to greater depths of say 30 - 40 metres?

I don't have any issues with daily life since it's from an old motorbike injury where I hit a cab at high speed and lived to tell the tale. I still cycle, kick sandbags, run and everything else normally.

ps. I'm hoping someone here will know because there're no doctors specializing in diving related matters where I am.

My left leg has a titanium rod, titanium plate, titanium wire, four titanium screws and some more hardware. I broke my femur in two places very BADLY now 2.5 years ago when I was attacked by two pit bulls while riding my bike. I went down very hard. I had other injuries as well. I have not fully recovered and never will. I used to run and now I am not supposed to. I returned to diving within 6 months and have had no issues. However, my fitness program would kill some people and I just started slow jogging a few weeks ago. I think you should be fine. By the way, I have made long and arduous dives and reached close to 150 feet since my injury. You will be fine.

N

 

[mblazer]

Ditto here. I've had a rod in my right leg (tib-fib fracture from a motorcycle accident) for years. No issues with diving, although I do occasionally set off metal detectors.

 

[rongoodman]

No problem with the screw in my talus and the plate and screws in my clavicle.

 

[TSandM]

There are theoretical concerns about increased susceptibility to DCS in areas of past injury, but to my knowledge, there are no studies confirming that this increased risk is real.

I have been diving for 7 years, done a little technical diving, and have had no problems from the two plates and 20 screws in my ankle, the large plate and eight or ten screws in my knee, the plate and screws in my right forearm, or the plate in my right clavicle.

 

[dmoore19]

No problems with the 8 screws and apparatus in my spine.

 

[AfterDark]

No problems with screws in my shoulder, my ankle and a plate and screws in my leg. Happy Diving!

 

[Phil_C]

Unlike some of the others on here I am neither formally medically trained nor part the six million dollar man (for those old enough to remember that series) but from the reading of a number of medical papers and research that I have done on the subject I would concur with the general view that the rod and fixings themselves will cause no issues at all. The only risk comes from the surrounding tissue.

As TS&M has said there is some research suggesting that tissue around previous injury sites is less capable of off gassing efficiently and can lead to an increase in the risk of DCI, but this is far from conclusive. The only other risk I can think of is in relation to any new cavities left behind during the surgery. If in the process of installing the hardware any 'new' air spaces have been created and left behind in the bone it is possible that pressure will lead to 'bleeds' or build up of fluids into these cavities whilst diving. It is a bit like when you get a tooth squeeze from a gap behind a filling. However as bone is essentially porous I don't think you will get a squeeze as such, but you could get bruising from the fluids being drawn into the cavity. However if you have been diving without issue so far then I suspect you would have already felt this within recreational depths if it was going to happen. Anyone else got any thoughts/information on this? - P