Dr.Mark: Rod removal in Femur 7 years after surgery

[Rhino-99]

New to formum but considering removing the rod in my femur after a car accident 7 yrs ago causing a mid break in my right leg. I'm a very active 30 yrs old. Pain and discomfort is minimal but range of motion is affected and Im nervous about hurting my leg again and what the aftermath may be should a similar situation arise. Im very active (volleyball, hockey, skiing, basketball etc.) Im worried about long term problems when Im in my 40-50's. When sitting with my leg corssed after a few minutes I feel pain above my knee and a typical ache in my hip but nothing I cant live with. Recently Ive noticed unusual pain around and above my knee and hip can be sensitive if I hit it just right. Although dr said nothing was wrong with knee, I feel like it's weak.

Should I remove the rod? Will the DR prescribe PT to strengthen leg? Will I fully recover to where I wont even notice the rod is removed. Or have people that have had the rod remove found that their leg is stronger or weaker than before? To this day, I still dont have full confidence in my leg when jumping off things or dunking a basketball but Im nervous about leaving it in for the rest of my life.

[DrMark]

lack of motion isn't secondary to a retained rod. I would'd want to be the one chipping away at that rod.

[Rhino-99]

lack of motion isn't secondary to a retained rod. I would'd want to be the one chipping away at that rod.

Can you elaborate as to what you mean by that (chipping away at the rod)?? Doesnt sound like an easy job but yet most Orthos act like it's no big deal and even outpatient. Now you got me nervous. In your prof opinion, would you leave it or have it removed. THe last thing I want to go in to get it removed and end up with bigger issues than some knee and hip discomfort. Thanks in advance.

[DrMark]

It is a physically challenging thing to do for both doctor and patient. Unless, I saw clear good reasons to expect that someone would improve, which is not something I see everyday, I wouldn't do it.

[bigwavedave1]

hi there. I recently had the rod taken out of my right leg after a mid-femur break. it had been in for 5 years. there are risks with taking it out, but I beleive they were secondary to the risks for me of keeping it in. it is a painful event, but you have very little muscle loss as with the initial break and I was back to "normal" within about 6-8 weeks. as a bonus, I had been having problems with my sciatic nerve due to bone growth around the top of my femur which went away with the surgery. the chipping out is due to the bone growing around the hole they drilled in the top of the femur to insert the rod. also, the heads of the screws would be grown over with bone. feel free to email me with any other questions.

dave

ps. I had two orthopedic surgeons discussing whether or not to have the operation and both had differing opinions and reasons to back them up.