broken clavicle...surgery or not?

[bsbs1876]

Originally Posted by Mateen

How long did you wait after the fall to have the surgery? Is the plate going to be with you the rest of your life? What exactly does the plate do that bothers you?
I've read that IF (God forbide) you had a fall and broke your clavicle again with the plate in there that the damage would be alot more than without the plate. Is that true?

Actually I waited 3 years until I insisted on the surgeon operating on me. He kept telling me to leave it but I had constant issues. For me it was simple physics, and I explained this to my doctor and he agreed - if the bone that connects your arm to your torso is shortened then the muscles in the area will be compressed. In my case this was the trapezius, pectoralis, and rhomboid muscles. I felt them all being squeezed in smaller since my shoulder was shortened by nearly 3 cm.

Now that everything is back out to length and my body is symmetrical once again, I will remove the plate at some point because it irritates the soft tissues a little bit when wearing a seat belt or backpack. It's not a big bothersome but I would prefer to take all the metal out for the long run. It isn't necessarily painful, but you kind of just know it's there and it can be a bit annoying. What was more annoying was a clavicle in the shape of ^.

A fall on a plated clavicle that would have enough force to break the bone would break the bone on either end of the plate, which you are right is worse because breaks closer to the joint are more serious and harder to fix. If the plate wasn't there the bone would break in the middle.

 

[willy81]

brad, in you new avatar you look perfectly symmetrical and so am I :big-smile: :big-smile:

 

[bsbs1876]

Originally Posted by willy81

brad,
in you new avatar you look perfectly symmetrical
and so am I

Thanks *****! It has certainly helped with the upper back pain behind the shoulder blades I had a few years ago.

When is your surgeon gonna yank the metal out?

 

[pnkcoral]

All systems go..

Went into see a new Doc today for a foot problem. I thought I might have broken it on the outer edge. They took an xray of where the outer protrusion and the pain was emminating from. Low and behold everyone has a small boney stump there ..like we were orginally suppose to have six toes instead of only five. But, I guess the orginal plan changed and a tendon was attached instead of another series of bones for another toe. Go figure...

I know this is not a broken foot blog but I thought it was kind of interesting. Anyway, my new Doc and his new intern, took a look at my broken clavicle, which has now completely fused together, and, were quit impressed. They found it hard to see any difference from the unbroken one. He then went on to tell me about one of his patients that the collar bone break cantilevered way over the top of the other broken edge. So, now the guy has a huge bump jutting out. He just kind of screwed up his face in sort of a snarl. No more words were needed. And besides, I have actually now moved on to my skin cancer problem that he is going to cut out next Monday. i swear when you get old it is just Patch, Patch, and more Patch.

 

[Ttspec]

Broke mine 2 weeks ago after a time trial Originally first dr said it will heal then another said plate it but he gave me just doom and gloom about an op so I went to a physio famous for doing British super bike riders etc http://www.physioclinic.net/index.htm Seeing now if it will heal I know it's in a z shape but we will see. Not moving or clicking now.

 

[bsbs1876]

Originally Posted by Ttspec


Broke mine 2 weeks ago after a time trial
Originally first dr said it will heal then another said plate it but he gave me just doom and gloom about an op so I went to a physio famous for doing British super bike riders etc
http://www.physioclinic.net/index.htm
Seeing now if it will heal I know it's in a z shape but we will see. Not moving or clicking now.

Jesus. I am fully aware I might get flamed for saying this, but get surgery man. That is an absolutely awful break. There are many surgeons out there who are intimidated by doing the procedure. Find a competent one who is willing to help you.

 

[Ttspec]

I was actually up for a plate until the surgeon just gave me all the bad news numb chest **** loss of feeling in my arm lung damage might not heal etc if he had been a bit more positive it would have happened.

 

[bsbs1876]

Originally Posted by Ttspec

I was actually up for a plate until the surgeon just gave me all the bad news numb chest **** loss of feeling in my arm lung damage might not heal etc if he had been a bit more positive it would have happened.

The numbness is common. I have some numbness even over one year post op. It's a small price to pay to have a fully functional shoulder and a symmetrical skeleton. The other risks he mentioned are very unlikely. It sounds to me like the surgeon does not have much experience with this operation and is a bit shy about doing it. My surgeon was very confident and assured me that this is becoming a very common procedure for athletes who want to return to activity quickly and prevent long term issues.

I suggest you look up Dr. Mark Sanders. He is well known in the motocross community for fixing clavicles. He is located in Texas I think, but he will answer questions via email. I reached out to him a couple of times for advice, but since I am in Canada I did not go to him for the operation. I bet if you showed him that X ray he would laugh at the advice you were given.

 

[island guy]

This may be long so thanks in advance for reading. After 5 years with a clavicle malunion I finally have surgery next week and I'm nervous. I'm a very active person so I started reading forums to understand how the surgery would impact my life I have built by working around my injury. I was in a car accident in '09 that left me in a coma for 3 weeks. I was driving alone and fell asleep at the wheel, thankfully no one else was injured. To make a long story short, the doctors were so concerned with saving my life that they didn't discover I broke my collar bone and jawbone. It wasn't till 6 months after and I was experiencing discomfort and limited range of motion I realized what had happened. Oh, the tell tale bump confirmed it. Because of my other in juries I didn't consider fixing it a priority until now that I consider myself 80% back to normal. My malunion shortened my clavicle by 2 cm and the awkwardness of doing many day to day is apparent now that I'm finally back out to work. So it's surgery time. In the first few months following my accident, I couldn't sleep on my right side and the motor skills of my right hand were poor, Shaving etc. Doing chin ups or push up made my shoulder crack like a knuckle does and and I even felt my collar bone moving sometimes. So that's my story, I've never had surgery before and I was very nervous until I found this thread on this forum. Reading everyone's input and experiences really put my mind at ease when I realized I'm not alone, but now I'm worried about nerve damage and the scar, but the surgery is scheduled for next Thursday and there's no going back.

 

[bsbs1876]

Originally Posted by island guy



This may be long so thanks in advance for reading. After 5 years with a clavicle malunion I finally have surgery next week and I'm nervous. I'm a very active person so I started reading forums to understand how the surgery would impact my life I have built by working around my injury.

I was in a car accident in '09 that left me in a coma for 3 weeks. I was driving alone and fell asleep at the wheel, thankfully no one else was injured.

To make a long story short, the doctors were so concerned with saving my life that they didn't discover I broke my collar bone and jawbone. It wasn't till 6 months after and I was experiencing discomfort and limited range of motion I realized what had happened. Oh, the tell tale bump confirmed it.

Because of my other in juries I didn't consider fixing it a priority until now that I consider myself 80% back to normal.

My malunion shortened my clavicle by 2 cm and the awkwardness of doing many day to day is apparent now that I'm finally back out to work. So it's surgery time.

In the first few months following my accident, I couldn't sleep on my right side and the motor skills of my right hand were poor, Shaving etc. Doing chin ups or push up made my shoulder crack like a knuckle does and and I even felt my collar bone moving sometimes.

So that's my story, I've never had surgery before and I was very nervous until I found this thread on this forum. Reading everyone's input and experiences really put my mind at ease when I realized I'm not alone, but now I'm worried about nerve damage and the scar, but the surgery is scheduled for next Thursday and there's no going back.

Hey there, welcome to the club. Your situation is very similar to mine. I had a malunion for 3 years. My x ray was pretty similar to yours too. Feel free to skim through my posts which tell my story quite thoroughly. My plate has been in for over a year and comes out this fall. Best of luck!

Oh PS. I noticed you are in Hamilton. Who is doing your operation? I had mine done at Toronto Western Hospital.

 

[island guy]

Hey bsbs, it was your posts in particular that gave me confidence in the procedure because our similarities. I'm doing the surgery at Hamilton General and it will be done by Dr. Ristevski and his team. P.s. How is your scar healing? Is it long? My Dr said it will be between 6 & 8 inches depending 1 more thing, did you have any issues healing? I'm 32 so that risk is on my radar

 

[bsbs1876]

Originally Posted by island guy

Hey bsbs, it was your posts in particular that gave me confidence in the procedure because our similarities. I'm doing the surgery at Hamilton General and it will be done by Dr. Ristevski and his team.

P.s.
How is your scar healing? Is it long? My Dr said it will be between 6 & 8 inches depending

1 more thing, did you have any issues healing? I'm 32 so that risk is on my radar

Good to hear you can have it done close to home! OHIP is a wonderful thing too.

I was told the scar in our case is longer because fixing a malunion requires more of a sturdy, rigid fixation. The doctor had to saw the bone in half down the fracture site, bring it out to length, and then line it up properly with the plate. My scar is probably 5 or 6 inches long. Everyone scars differently though so you can't get a good idea from someone else how it's going to turn out for you. I won't beat around the bush, my scar is long and very noticeable. From far away you can't really tell but once you get up close in talking distance if I am shirtless, people will look at it and be like "what happened?" and I will go into my courageous story of me fishtailing a dirt road turn at 80 km/h on my ATV. I am a lot more sensible on the thing now. Funny thing is I have always wanted to get a sleeve tattoo up my left arm and shoulder, so I am planning to incorporate the scar some how if the tattooist is willing to work with me. This will have to be a couple years after the plate comes out though so it can heal up again. Chicks dig 'em man, don't worry! Also, from a cosmetic standpoint, the scar is a lot better than the shortened shoulder and bump. Everyone has scars and can relate to them. Having a deformed skeleton made me really uncomfortable and self conscious. It made me feel disabled and very different. It was visible through my t shirts even.

As far as issues healing, not sure if you read the part where 2 weeks after surgery I did have a bit of fluid building up in my incision. At the time I kind of freaked out and thought it was the end of the world but looking back on it I realize it wasn't a big deal. The surgeon had to re-open it and drain it for me. It was a minor setback and this should not happen to you. Even with this setback I am still incredibly happy with my decision to fix the clavicle. I am 27 years old and have many years ahead of me to enjoy a stronger shoulder and arm. The benefits have far outweighed the negatives for me. 32 is not old! You will heal up just fine. Be confident and have good spirits going in.

PS. sometimes I intentionally wear deep V necks just so I can show off the scar.... lol

 

[island guy]

My surgery is tomorrow, I'm a bit nervous...

 

[JAW007]

IF you need surgery, you need it - Dr's call really. If you can avoid it, then go that way. My ski accident resulted in what my Ortho called a "blaster" - his slang for "my Rt. clavicle was now dust". All he could do was replace all of it save a little stub on either end with two SS plates and 13 screws. Actually, accident really didn't hurt much, it felt really weird until the surgery but the pain during the healing phase when all the muscles try to reattach and spasm, was intense. That I'll never forget.
Works like a dream now, zero problems. In fact, it usually feels better than the left side after long rides. And no problems at the airport - people always ask that.
Good luck

 

[island guy]

~Update~ 2 days post surgery and I feel fine. Very little pain,only minor discomfort. After my surgery the Dr had some x-rays done and he said the union looked "fantastic". I hope that the rest of my recovery goes as smoothly, but right now I couldn't be happier with the decision to have the surgery done. I'd definitely recommend it

 

[paulasmith13]

what happned?

 

[trek240]

I went over the handle bars on my mountain bike about 3 weeks ago. I went to the ER right after it happened. They sent me home with NORCO and a sling. Followup with ortho was 4 days later. This was my x-ray in the ER.

The first ortho pushed his surgery right off the bat, and insisted that I think about it and give him a call. I immediately scheduled an appointment with another Dr. Appointment with him was 2 weeks after the crash. This was the x-ray at 2 weeks.

. This dr told me that surgery was not necessary and it would heal on its own. I have seen some x-ray pics on here but only the bad ones. Just wondering if people with similar x-rays like mine have had good results. Thanks for the reply in advance.

 

[nahho]

Here's my metal plate. I don't have a before picture, but there really was no choice but for me to have surgery. My two halves of the collarbone were very much overlapping. A boy walked into me on a trial and I must have gotten caught on him, because I slammed down on my shoulder. Technically my collarbone broke into four pieces. The boy did not even fall down.

The ER I was taken to suggested I would not need surgery, that it would heal. Then when I took my copy of the X-ray home and wife and I looked at it, we couldn't tell which bones were supposed to go together. Finally I saw a surgeon, and it was pretty clear. I had surgery a week after my fall. That week waiting for the surgery, I was OK if I didn't move the top half of my arm at all -- harder than you'd think, and sitting at my desk job wasn't entirely comfortable. I felt better almost immediately after the surgery. I mean, I couldn't move the top half of my arm for four or five weeks, but no more bone rubbage (ouch!), and the healing went very well.

Ten months later now, my biggest problem is shoulder muscle tightness. Stretching is good for that, but single-arm weightlifting -- small weights, many reps -- is the best thing for it. (Except over the winter it helped give me a muscle pull that led to a hernia, but that's another story.) I feel the metal plate but it's not a huge bother. It's kind of cool, really.

 

[pnkcoral]

trek240,

I had a clavicle break similiar to yours, however, it was a clean break and not still attached like yours appears to be. You can go back here and read my whole saga that spanned well over a year. The long and the short of it was that other than having something like a 140% displaced break; I too was deluged with surgeons wanted to implant a plate and screws. However, (thank God) I was just to sick with fever and some 13 other broken bones to let them get their way.

I researched the pros and cons, talked to surgeons, PA's, NP's and finally came across these x-rays, where someone just let the bone heal naturally. My x-rays where basically the same except that it took longer to fuse because of the displacement. I am certainly not a doctor but I cannot think of a break that would be more a candidate for natural healing than yours, Except maybe a hairline fracture or something.

Having said all that, the key to a full recover for me came through swimming. Started off in a hot springs, some simple yoga, and then back in the pool training. Stayed off the weights when i felt that they would just be counter-productive to my recovery. About a month ago I was up to around 2 hours of hard training a day (including lots of butterfly.) However, thats when I discovered skin cancer on my shoulder. The Doc kept having to go in and get more..deeper and deeper. But, he finally got it all and now I am just waiting for the stitches to be removed. I swear there is always something that come along..

Hope this post helps

http://www.sindark.com/2010/06/18/broken-clavicle-x-rays/

 

[trek240]

Thanks pnkcoral. I guess I'm having a problem with patience. I'm at 3 weeks now, and am already tired of this sling, and not being able to do anything. Dr did clear me to drive though. I guess that's a start. I'll update after my next appointment on the 30th. Thanks again.