Tuesday, June 5, 2007

DRAT!! I need surgery

I went to the orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Broderick yesterday. While there, I had to have an x-ray and there was another student (Christy) from the Greenville Tech Radiology Program. I jokingly said that if I keep hurting myself maybe every student will get to x-ray me before they graduate! Anyway, he said that I need to have a surgical repair called ORIF. This means, Open Reduction, Internal Fixation.

Internal fixation involves an open surgical technique in which an incision is made over the fracture and a stainless steel plate with screws is placed to align the bone ends and prevent displacement or loss of reduction.

Advantages of internal fixation include: increased stability, strategic placement of implants, the lack of a need for an external device, less obtrusive casting and potential earlier use of the hand.

Possible complications of this technique include: loss of fixation, improper positioning of the plate or screws, infection, the need for hardware removal, nerve injury, tendon injury or rupture, stiffness.

This website Hospital for Special Surgery has a really good explanation of the procedure.

So, pre-op is Thursday and surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, June 12th.

I want to say a heartfelt Thank You to my friend Jennifer McKittrick for getting me an appointment with Dr. Broderick. A perk of being in the radiolography profession is that I have an inside line to the best people available for whatever medical problem I encounter. I always rely on the advise of my radiographer friends... they never steer me wrong.

Thanks Jen.

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