Femur Fracture

[Holmarn]

I broke my left femur in an off pist skiing accident in Engelberg on the 16th of january 2009. The doctors put in an intramedullary nail.
The problem is that the healing of the fracture goes to slow ( I think )
To all of you who have experienced similar fractures:
1. How long did it take before you could see evidence of healing ( callus formation ) on x-ray.
My last x-ray was done 8 weeks after surgery and there were no signs of healing.

My second question is:
2. Has anyone had the same problem? What did the orthopedic doctors do to fix it? Did they take out the looking screws, or did they do some kind of open surgery-putting in new plates and nails?

[taz]

welcome to club femur 2009. at this there will be standing room only by may!

[Holmarn]

Does anybody have an answer to my questions?

1. How long did it take before you could see evidence of healing ( callus formation ) on x-ray.
My last x-ray was done 8 weeks after surgery and there were no signs of healing.

2. Has anyone had the same problem ( non-healing)? What did the orthopedic doctors do to fix it? Did they take out the locking screws, or did they do some kind of open surgery-putting in new plates and nails?

[taz]

there are a few broken femur threads on here, search button.

[Holmarn]

I´ve read 3 or 4 of them but I can´t find the answers two my questions in those.

[cptpowder]

Holy Fack that is one gnarly break! First thing I thought of is be patient!! Second voice your concerns to your doctor or any other healer you can find. Credible ones at least.

[LightRanger]

I´ve read 3 or 4 of them but I can´t find the answers two my questions in those.

My ortho prescribed one of these for my broken tibia: http://global.smith-nephew.com/us/pa...BONE_14431.htm

Supposed to significantly speed healing. I'm five weeks post-op. I can tell that both my tibia and fibula haven't rejoined. No idea when they will.

[nieveparasiempre]

Does anybody have an answer to my questions?

1. How long did it take before you could see evidence of healing ( callus formation ) on x-ray.
My last x-ray was done 8 weeks after surgery and there were no signs of healing.

2. Has anyone had the same problem ( non-healing)? What did the orthopedic doctors do to fix it? Did they take out the locking screws, or did they do some kind of open surgery-putting in new plates and nails?

This is an old thread but.....I personally saw the beginning of a callus after 6 weeks. I was off crutches after 12 weeks. I was able to (gently) ski groomers after 14 weeks.
I had a fracture that looked similar but was much smaller than yours.

After 2 weeks,I had a "butterfly" fracture which is a piece of bone sticking out, not in contact with the other bone. My original doctor wanted to do a 2nd operation to wire it to the femur. I got 2nd opinions from 3 other doctors, all of whom said it would heal fine. and it did.



It is probably a little concerning that no signs of healing had occurred after 8 weeks. Did they Dynamically lock your road (i.e. put 2 screws in at the top)? Do you have the 8 week x-rays? I'd be really interested in hearing what they ended up doing..