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Doctors Lounge - Orthopedics Answers
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| djkidwolf
- Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:17 am |
|
Hi all,
I'm a 28 year old morbid obese male. standing 6'1 and weighing 373. I was involved in a head on collison on april 7 and had 18 fractures, some of them off hand are pelvis,femur(in several areas),tibula,open wound fracture of fibula,knee cap(patella) and both hips. I know that they put in two rods,plate near the knee and several screws, well after alot of down time in a hospital bed and wheel chair, i just regained my weight berring status on july 23 and have began therepy in an assisted living setting
(nursing home), and already have took a few steps with the help of a walker. however both my right(where most of the trauma was) knee and foot are almost constantly swelled and my lower back and right femur,knee area seem to always Hurt on a scale of 1-10 about 6. How long will i be in this pain? what can i do to get this swelling to stop? Could i be retaining fluids? how long before i should be walking on my own? and im a going to have to have more surgies down the road to replace these rods and screws ? Thanks for any help. Justin
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| Tom Plamondon PA-C
- Mon Aug 03, 2009 8:45 pm |
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 Hello,
Sorry to hear about the accident. With all the fractures, it must have been a major collision. Good thing you made it out alive.
Regarding some of your questions.
The swelling is to expected. Without much walking, the fluid will tend to pool. It is important to prevent blood clots in the legs by doing ankle pumps and wearing some type of compression on the legs (eg. ACE wrap or pneumatic pump on the feet). Walking and getting out of bed will help.
Your weight bearing status will progress as the fractures heal. The hardware will stay in unless causing a problem. Double check with the orthopedist about this though.
You probably have a good team of nurses and therapists helping you. Ask lots of questions if needed and keep up the good work through rehab. It is difficult but you have a good chance of walking without assistance if the fractures heal well and there are few complications.
All the best to you.
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