Anyone had screws removed from ankle/leg following op?

[ohnelly]

Hi im 32 weeks pg with DS2 & broke my ankle quite badly when I was 10 weeks pregnant. Had to have pins & plates put in both sides. Now its healed and swelling gone down two of the screws are sticking up & are going to have to be removed, so im told.
I think they will wait till after had baby now as they dont want to do Xrays etc unless really necessary. Just wondering if anyone has had this sort of thing done? If so what does it involve & how long will it take to be back on my feet again afterwards? The last thing I need is not being able to walk/drive with a 4yr old & a new baby! thanks!

I used to work on an orthopaedic ward and this is a very straightforward op. You will probably only be in one day and most people don't need crutches after as you can put weight on your leg straight away.

My dd had five pins removed from her leg a couple of years ago, aged 14. It was much less traumatic than having them put in. They were removed via the original wounds so no additional scarring. She was in for one night and on crutches for a short while; had pain relief but nothing particularly heavy duty.

Hope this helps.

I had a screw removed from my knee about 6 years after it was put in. It was quite raised above the bone level hence having it removed.

Anyway I was only in hospital for the day, they gave me a stick rather than a crutch afterwards.

However I would say that it was a lot more uncomfortable/sore than I'd anticipated and therefore left me hobbling for longer than I'd imagined. Also, as it was my clutch leg, I was a bit nervous about driving for a while because of the pressure through the joint when using the pedal.

At the time DD was about 3. I think I roped my Mum in to help for the first day or 2 and then just coped after that

Thanks for replies - do they knock you out or just numb the leg? And I assume there will be stiches afterwards? I had staples in mine which were horrible, and a spinal anethetic and I was as sick as a dog afterwards. Not looking forwards at all, hopefully it wont be as bad as I think.

ohnelly -they give you a general anaesthetic so you're completely spark-out!

When you see the anaesthetist before the op mention that you were really sick afterwards last time and you should be OK (I'm not sure if its a different GA or whether they add some anti-emetics into the equation??). I was really sick after an op years ago but when I had my 2 knee ops I told them about it and never had a problem.

Oh, and I had a couple of stitches which IIRC the practice nurse at my GPs removed after about a week or so.

You'll be fine, try not to worry

Ah thanks that makes it sound a bit better, will defo mention the sickness too. Cant be as bad as having them put in!

Exactly!

My recovery from my knee op when they put the screw in was 2-3 months and I was given some heavy duty pain killers post-op.

Having the screw removed was a walk in the park by comparison and didn't involve any pain killers (apart from maybe a paracetamol or two immediately afterwards)

ohnelly - sometimes it's the painkillers that make you sick - particularly morphine or codeine based, so if you can get away with voltarol or something you may find that helps. dd has anti-emetics before her GAs too.

I did have Morphine so maybe it was that - I wasnt allowed anything else apart from paracetemol as I was pregnant at the time. They will wait until ive had baby now so will be allowed something else hopefully instead!