broken clavicle...surgery or not?

yzf_jimmy

Well Im not going for the surgery, the doc said there was a bit of a gap between the two breaks (about 0.7mm) but he rekons it should heal fine. The fact that im in no pain and have about 80% movement probably backed up his opinion not to go for it aswell.

Did many of you guys have it as easy as me?? i mean i had very little pain when i did my break, and i had 70% of my movement back by the next day. Doc says i can do a bit of exercise aswell, just go easy and use my pain as a guide to slow down.

There was another guy like me, he did his on a mtb, just a few kays down from where I did mine (the bike park and mx park are in the same forest). Same day, fractured the same, but he could barely move his arm, and you could see he was in pain. Needless to say he was brassed off when he sees me using my arm like nothing happened , lol

Anyway, we'll see how it goes aye

Dustin07

sounds like you've got it pretty easy, all things considered. My gap was about 1-2 inches and I was knocked unconcious. There was a significant amount of pain, although the dr. told me he thought I had a pretty huge tolerance for pain since I didn't 'appear' too uncomfortable, LOL.

if I had .7mm gap... basically NO gap, then I would NOT have opted for surgery.

Garden Girl

Hello everyone. I'm working on reading everyones stories and thought I'd share mine. I'm a highly active 38 year old mother of 5 kids. I compete in triathalons, hike, camp, and canoe as well as own my own greenhouse where I do an extreme a mount of heavy lifting. Well just 1 week ago, I had a car accident that has left me with a multipule fracture in the middle of my left clavical. I've been placed in a arm sling for now. I have seen one doc who says I may possiblely end up having a non union but says surgery is an option but my choice at this point. I consulted another one who feels that we should wait and see how I do before choosing surgery but again it's my choice. It's considered a high impact fracture due to the speed at which the other car was travelling before it t-boned my car. I experienced pain at the accident site but it wasn't bad enough for me to have morphin. As long as I was still it didn't bother me. Right now I am also not in much pain. I take no pain killers at all and only feel pain with certain kinds of movements. I find this rather strange considering the multiple pieces (4) that my bone is in. Any one experience this? All I want is to heal with 100% mobility and strength. I don't know if I should allow it to heal on it's own or go for surgery. I know of two people who never did heal right and they have nothing but problems, but they also did not have the same kind of fracture as me. Any one out there have multiple middle fractures?

waspo

Garden Girl, going by what I've read here with your type of break and how active and demanding your life is, I'd seriously think about surgery. Or, atleast get a second opinion from a Sports Orth. Your recovery time will be better if not quicker and without knowing what the break looks like, I'd say you'd probably have less complications as well.

My friend broke his in 3 places (pocketbike racing) and just left it. Well, he had no choice really as he was expected to fly to Japan 2 weeks later. At the time, the Dr wanted to operate, but said he could do it once he came back. But, that was too late (2 months later). So, now he's got a bung arm.
Seriously think about it!

After breaking my right clavicle (pocketbike racing) just over a week now, my Dr said it will heal up fine without surgery and that it is a common break.

I have a mid fracture, partially seperated but when I'm laying on my back, the bones seam to touch each other. (not in allignment though.) So, I've been wearing a foam strap to form the figure-of-8 thingy which pulls my shoulders back and keeps them in reasonably stable condition. I also wear a sling.

I'm resting at home for 2 weeks to help it mend well, and spend most of the time in bed. (damn boring!!) Oh, and on the internet researching more about this type of break. (wish I hadn't now. lol!)

I didn't have much pain when I first broke it and it's still quite good as long as I don't make any sudden movements. It does ache sometimes, but I rarely take painkillers as I like to feel what's going on.

Anyway, going by what I've read, there's a lot of unhappy people out there who have had nothing but problems and complications.
This kinda shocked me a bit because if I hadn't have tried to find out more, I'd probably be laying back happily waiting for it to mend, which I'm optimistic about but now there is this doubt looming.

I went back to my Dr to try and get more info about how my arm will function after it heals.
Will I be back to 100%? Will I still be able to perform gymnastically with full strength? How long do I have to wait? bla..bla..bla!

At 36, I like to keep active and was really looking forward to getting back into weight training next week.

He looked at me strangely, and still didn't give me an answer.
I mentioned something about refering me to a Sports Orthopaedic Surgeon, and he laughed and said if I was planning to get it pinned or something that It would just be overkill!
But, if I've got money to throw around that there would be a specialist out there keen to do it.
I asked him to give me one anyway and I'd think about it.
He insisted that my shoulder wouldn't be a problem and that I would forget about it in a month, and that he's looked after 100's of broken clavicles without a problem.
I might add that he's a pretty good Dr IMHO and I trust what he's says since I've been going to him for 10 years now.

Judging by alot of the comments here, surgery has been the right thing for the type of break (multiples) or non-union type. Mine is relatively a simple mid break, so surgery for me would mainly be for esthetics, and probably a quicker recovery so I can get back to work, which is heavy and demanding on my shoulders. Also, to make sure I have full range of movement for my gymnastic activities. Yeah, basically back to 100% and my shoulder in better allignment symetrically. It kinda sags and is a bit shorter now, but only I can notice. My brother offered to break my other clavicle so they'd match. Bastard!! lol!

I'd also like to have a specialist monitor my progress.
I'd hate to go 6-8 weeks down the track, only to find out I had a non-union and need surgery anyway.
I'd dread getting a plate & screws and bone graph. Which is why I'd prefer to act now with having it pinned.

Ah...It's such a crap waiting game...what to do??!!
I know I can't leave it too long as it suppose to heal/bond within a certain time frame of roughly 10 to 20 days.
I'm going to arrange a consultation with a specialist this week and see what comes of it.

waspo

...Oh, and some of you might find the steps outlined here interesting: http://www.sandersclinic.net/news_a...x_tdy_sept.html

waspo

If anyone's interested in the pinning process, have a look here: http://www.wheelessonline.com/ortho...of_clavicle_frx

Not for the squemish!

Garden Girl

Hey waspo

Thanks for the advice. Let me know how the consult goes. I'm still thinking about it. I'll be asking more detailed questions at my next doc's appointment. My sister is getting married on April 7 and I'm maid of honor so I'll defineately wait until after the wedding. Anyone know a good sport ortho doc in Niagara region of Ontario Canada?

waspo

Will do Garden Girl!

Hope yours isn't giving you too much grief.
I don't know if I could stand having multiple breaks.
You're one tough bird I'll give ya that!

I managed to get a cancellation appointment for tomorrrow with a guy who treats our Pro Footy players. Apparently one of the best!

These past days I've gone over my X-rays again to have a proper look at the bone positions and it looks like they are a good 1" distance apart. (From when I first broke it.) But now, I can actually feel that it's quite smooth at the break site and only pops up now and then. If it stays in that flat position, I'd be more than happy to leave it. But, when it pops out (tenting) it feels rather large and pointy and kinda sux.

Anyway, I'll let you know what the specialist says tomorrow.

sooray02

That saved me alot of time.. Thank you..!

__________________
Missing the empty roads in Indiana...

waspo

OK, saw the specialist today and he's advised me to let it heal by itself. A new X-ray shows the two ends are displaced, but only the distance of the bone itself. (Top side of shoulder bone is level with bottom side of sternum bone.) The shoulder side has also turned forward, but the tip seams to be touching the other side. So, really there should be reasonable bridging between the two. Also, my shoulder width is practically the same as the left side due to the bones' position. Only the bones have displace from each other but still the normal length. I asked about pinning and he said he used to do this but found this method problematic and weaker than plating, and I'm not into plating anyway so that was easy.
He said I shouldn't have any problem with the shoulder gyymnastically and should have full movement and stength once healed. Just take it easy for the next 3 months.
I'll see him in 6 weeks for a follow-up X-ray, to see whether it's progressively healing or me ending up saying "I told you so!".
"It's a 1% gamble and the odds are in my favour" he said. We'll see!

Punisher92009

I had a left Clavicle ORIF performed and am glad that I went that route as I am still able to swim butterfly and able to military press more than I should.

Nasty bugger of a scar but it is another story to add around the campfire...

~A

Garden Girl

[QUOTE=waspo]OK, saw the specialist today and he's advised me to let it .....


That sounds pretty good. I'm glad things look so good right now. I don't have my next appointment until next week. Maybe I'll get good news too.

Garden Girl

What type of surgery did you have and what was it like, the healing process?

wolfman113

DEAR SHELLEY; JUST READ YOUR STORY AND THOUGHT THERE COULDNT BE SOMEONE WITH AS MUCH TROUBLE AS ME. BUT I AM SORRY TO SAY YOU GOT ME BEAT.... NOT TRYING TO BE SMART BUT MY BREAK IS GOING ON 2YRS.HAD SURGERY ABOUT 18MONTHS AGO AND HAD NOTHING BUT TROUBLE SINCE.. IF I HAD IT TO DO ALL OVER I WOULDNT HAVE SURGERY.. BUT NOW MY BONE IS STILL A NONUNION AND MAYBE NEED MORE SURGERY. I HAD NOTHING BUT CONSTANT PAIN SINCE MAY 25 AND REALLY CANT STAND MUCH MORE..AS FAR AS YOUR SURGERY IS ALSO SCHEDULED FOR MY BIRTHDAY AS WELL.. NOV.14 1960 I REALLY HOPE YOU MAKE OUT ALRIGHT BECAUSE GOD KNOWS I KNOW WHAT YOUR GOING THRU... I HAD A PLATE AND 6 SCREWS PUT IN AND SOMEHOW PULLED OUY 2 OF THE SCREWS SO FAR... SHELLEY I MUST SAY YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THE DOCTORS DILUTING THE TRUTH. THEY TRY TO BE COMPASSIONATE AND CARING, BUT WIND UP SUGARCOATING THE TRUTH AND GIVING YOU FALSE HOPE THAT YOU WILL HEAL WITHOUY INTERVENTION... I REALLY HOPE THAT YOU MADE OUT ALRIGHT SINCE OUR BIRTHDAY... ARE YOU DOING O.K. NOW? HAS YOUR PAIN GOTTEN ANY BETTER???

SINCERLY,

STEPHEN BRABAZON SR.