Medical Professionals: Question about a procedure: Steel Rod in Femur.

[Mike 03]

I'm NOT asking for personal medical advice, merely general information as a matter of curiosity on a procedure that I am trying to research but getting different information about.

The procedure is called (depending whom you believe) intramedullary rod or nail (to the femur). It is basically inserting a steel rod into someone's femur.

I'm looking for a basic and honest description of this procedure. Yes, I've spent the last two hours surfing (i.e., Wiki and all the e-medicine sites) and reading papers that have helped somewhat, but are very vague on certain issues.

If an individual in his sixties, say, gets such a procedure, does he require a cast? Many of the papers say that children require a cast but that most adults do not, and can get by on crutches.

Recovery period seems to vary from six weeks to three months?

How big would this sort of surgery be? Is this considered a major or minor surgery?

Will it actually alleviate pain or is it merely prophylactic in--to give one wild example--a bone cancer patient who has not actually experienced a femoral fracture yet, but is in potential danger of experiencing such a fracture?

As I said earlier, these are in no way specific questions about medical advice. I'm much more interested in the nature of this procedure, generally. Ordinarily I can find this stuff easily on the web, but in this instance the information is sparse and frequently contradictory.

Thanks

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. This is definitely a major surgery...

Recovery times would certainly vary, depending on how old the person is, and why the surgery was needed...

As to your other questions, I honestly don't know...I'd expect it to alleviate pain, but I'm not sure...

And I do not know if these surgeries are done prophylactically...

Good luck getting the info!

:hi:

[Mike 03]

4. Thank you for the reply. I'm sorry I didn't see it

earlier.

Thank you so much!

[Tangerine LaBamba]

2. I don't know about it

as a prophylactic measure against a pathological fracture that might or might exist, but I do know how it works when you break your femur. Because it happened to me.

I had a big surgery that put a titanium - not steel, it's always titanium - rod in my femur, along with cement and bone grafts - and, no, there was a ten-inch incision along my thigh, thirty-seven staples, and a six-month recovery during which I had to learn to walk again. (I was in real bad shape prior to the surgery.)

The recovery was uneventful, and I was fortunate enough to have such healthy bones that the bone growth over the titanium rod was speedy and complete. It doesn't always work that way, I was told. But, I had no complications from the surgery, and it was a huge relief, finally stopping the pain I'd been enduring.

Physical therapy was a long road for me since I'd been unable to walk for a long time before the surgery. I daresay it wouldn't be nearly as long for someone with a fresh break.

As for doing surgery on a bone that's not broken, it sounds fishy to me. If that's being advanced to the patient, I'd urge the patient to get a second and third opinion.

Good luck.

[Mike 03]

5. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your input.

The problem with his femur is that it is infiltrated with cancer cells and in danger of breaking.

Titanium sounds better than steel.

This hypothetical person has metastatic cancer to the femur. But it has not broken yet.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

8. The surgery proposed

is not the answer. You simply do not want to force him to endure this surgery. I cannot seriously believe any competent physician would even suggest this. I'm in very good health, strong, and still, the surgery was three hours, I got four transfusions, and the recovery was exhausting. Any time you open the human body, you're traumatizing it.

Further, with a femur that has already infiltrated, the process of surgery would cause the malignant cells to migrate even faster to other parts of the body. I seriously doubt that any recovery from the procedure would be possible.

He may end up in a wheelchair, which, sadly, is part of the progression of the disease. But, once it's in the bones, as you no doubt know, there's really not much that can be done.

Here's a hypothetical good luck wish to you.

:toast:

[GentryDixon]

3. My husband fractured his

femur and kneecap in an ATV accident when he was 54 years old. The surgery was in excess of 8 hours. They put in 19 screws and a steel rod down his leg to support the bone. He was in a soft cast. He used a walker for about a week then moved on to crutches. About 5 weeks after the surgery we went to southern California for a long planned vacation. He walked all over the Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo with the crutches. He was tired, but able to do it. I on the other hand was forced to drive in the crazy California traffic.

[Mike 03]

6. Thank you!!!!!! That gives me a TON of hope that this surgery might work out okay.

That is good news.

Thank you very much for posting. It means a lot.

[GentryDixon]

9. Good Luck to you.

:hug:

[Mike 03]

7. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking the time to reply. NT

[taterguy]

10. There are librarians for questions like this

You'll get better answers from trained professionals than you will from random folks here