Urgent - Infection has set in after surgery what to ask nurse when i go later?

[jellyjelly]

Broke my leg on Boxing day, it wasnt setting in a cast so they have operated to put a large pin in. The wound in about 2 inches long.

1. the surgeon left a large string in my wound which had to be reopened to get it out by the nurse. This was the top part of the wound.

2. few days later the lower part started to open up so went back to the nurse to check it out.

3. she said it looked fine, it got worse.

4. went back as the wound was getting warm, red and swollen and slgithly bleeding. Was given a prescription for co amoniclav (sp)

5. it wont stop bleeding and is getting green pus out of it. Changing dressing about 4 times a day.

6. did have a vomiting bug which is another sympton of mrsa as well as night sweats (im 27 so not menopausal) but i did think it might be a cold if it is this is the worse cold.

I am going back this afternoon and i am going to ask for a mrsa skin swab to be taken. Is there any thing else i need to ask.

Have been taking ab for 3 days i think and have not missed any.

What can i do?

perhaps it is more a case of needing stronger antibiotics?

Good luck though, you sound like you are really suffering you poor thing.

They are a mix of 2 ab but just abit worried as it is a month after surgery and it is getting infected now.

this is awful. I wd ask for a doctor/the consultant to review it tbh.

and ask if this has been reported to the National Patient Safety Agency which the GP surgery can do via their PCT or the hospital can do, depending on where the nurse is employed.

Yes, I would make quite a fuss and not be fobbed off. Ask for a second opinion if the person you see dosn't seem concerened.

when i went in and said i thought it was getting infected she didnt seem worried but called the doctor in and he said it was breaking down so needed ab. It was nice he thought it was rather than being fobbed off.

I would be worried though if I were you (though I fret the other day after a small cut on my finger!)

I am glad that people dont think i am over reacting because my parents whom are currently helping me look after my son think i am. I get told every day before the infection visit that i didnt have an infection and i almost have to beg them to take me to the docs.

when is your next appointment with the fracture clinic?

If it's not in the next couple of days you MUST phone the Consultant's secretary and say that you have an infection in your wound which hasn't settled with antibiotics. It's VERY important that the Consultant should know about this, if the bugs get into the bone you could be in big trouble.

If swabs have already been taken you don't need to asked for an MRSA swab- it will already have been done, but a further swab should be taken to make sure that the bugs you have are not resistant to the antibiotics you have taken.

BTW, I'm alarmed that you say that the nurse had to reopen the wound to remove a "large string". It sounds like that was a stitch that was meant to be there. Stitches put under the skin are supposed to dissolve and are not meant to be removed. Get back to fracture clinic and get the surgeon to look at it, please!

Thanks for the advice, i have an app with a consultant tomorrow.

The reason why she took it out was that it was half hanging out and should not have been in there. It was very sore and i could see then that the top was looking angry but then at the time the bottom part looked great.

I was told that i didnt have any dissolvable stiches in there and it was thick not like a normal stich.

I havent had any swabs taken.

Jelly jelly, this is v important. Wound sover internal fixations must be treated promptly and quickly if they are not healing. Other wise you can get bacteria sticking to pin entering the bone and causeing repeated infections. If you are having wywtemic symptoms, ie fevers, etc it is important that not only do you have swabs taken you should also have blood cultures done as well.
I thnk for them to say that your stitches were all non desolvable is not true. Deep tension sutures pull the muscle back together, these are disolvable but take ages, this was prob the sring that was sticking out.
Also it is not unheard of for people to have mild allergic reactions to such sutures.
In short you need ot have
blood cultures taken if you feeling unwell
wound swab done and results asap
ultrasound to check for foreign body or collection of pushth

sorry that should have said collection of puss HTH

thanks chaps do i get all of this from the nurse?

If i say blood cultures will they automatically know what to check for because i am going to go in and ask for mrsa swab but i dont know what else to ask for?

The nurse could do this but you really need to see a dr, Your Gp should refer you to the orthopods today, to see if you need Intravenous antibiotics or not. No offence to any practise nurses but this is serious and needs to be delt with by a senior dr/consultant.

Even though i have a morning appointment?

Thanks i will push for the doctor to see it aswell then. I didnt want to fuss but i also didnt want it to get worse which it obviosuly is.

One good thing is that it doesnt smell.

If you are just goin to see the nurse she should known what blood cultures are. A wound swab will check for MRSA and other bugs, it is not a seperate swab, unless you want to know if you've got it anywhere else.

Thankyou all for all the help, My app is at 315 so will let you know if i get everything which i fully intend to do now.

I dont want to worry you but if it did smell, it a v bad sign.
Because its not healing up with the augmentin does't meen that you've gat MRSA. The fisrt line treatment for skin infections is usually a combinations of p[enicillin and amoxicillin, though this depends on the hosp you are going to..
A wound may not heal if you have a collection of puss in it
A foreign body
or it is resistant to that antibiotic (this does not mean it is MRSA)
However, a wound infection over an internal fixation or broken bone is very very serious, cannot stress this enough. You are not bothering anyone, the dr should see this asap

good luck ,will be looking out for you later x

jelly - agree with chapsmum an infection in a wound over a pin is serious. The surgeon needs to know that it's not healed. dd had some leg surgery 10 weeks ago today, got an infection after 3 weeks and it's only just about healed. Her swabs came back showing an infection (not sure what) but not MRSA, which was treated with a longer course of flucloxicillin.

Hope you get it sorted soon jelly.

I had my appointment and now feel sadder than i did before.

The nurse was great, i said i had been researching and asked for a swab to be done which is being collected tomorrow morning and now needs to be grown. She said that the wound looked healthy despite it having an infection because there is good blood supply.

She gave me a new/better seaweed dressing and a prescription for more dressings.

She then called in the doctor after saying who i was that i have a broken leg and now a pin and when it happened and this was then it fell apart.

He tried to push anti depressetns on me, asking me what illness i had? I am not ill in the head i am not depressed, well i wasnt before, then started asking if my partner had assulted me if i had been pushed/assulted and would not stop quizzing me about my partner and how it happened. Paid no attention to the wound apart from to basically tell me to get a grip on reality and that i wouldnt be walking next week and that my leg is connected to my head.

I know i might not be walking in 3 months let alone next week for gods sake. I think i am taking it pretty well seeing as i am now broke, business has had to shut, cant play wiht my son etc etc etc.

The nurse then apologised and said she wished she had never asked him in after i burst into tears with my calling him a effing asshole!

She said to make sure that they know and look at the wound and to ask for an xray if i want to check if the pin/bone is infected.

jelly, you poor soul!
How are you feeling now?
What you ned is a plan of action to get this sorted.
Which bone did you break?
What is your next appt and what do you expect to be doing?

good grief. that's outrageous.

I called my fiance who said jokingly 'shall i go and kick his arse'

Seeing the consultant tomorrow whom i shall insist he looks at the wound and will get a repeat appointment next week