Clavicle Error - Broken Collarbone

and, heal up soon!

Hope you get a decent nights sleep, insofar as possible.

Give me a shout if you want a lift to hospital or similar tomorrow.

I was offered surgery, but was also told that the odds were good for a recovery without, so I opted not too and it looks like it will mend ok. Hopefully you'll have a better diagnosis, and all the best with healing up. I would say to keep it imobilised as much as possible in first 2-3 weeks, and don't take any chances thinking that your better once the pain subsides. It might feel like that, and it did with me, but then you might end up doing more damage, in other words be patient - it will help in the long run.

Prepare the reading room.

Fucking hell. Heal up quick. And properly.

really sorry to hear that Tiswas

The x-ray they took on Saturday was pretty grim viewing - four distinct but messy pieces of bone.

Did you get a pic of it? Post it up if you did, I am curious.

Next time you're in the fracture clinic, bring a decent camera with you and then photograph the screen when the doc brings it up.

I'm just recovering from a double fracture that was repaired surgically. Although I was hospitalised after the accident nobody from orthopaedics looked at me until I attended fracture clinic a week after being discharged (other injuries were more urgent).

After being discharged I did some research on surgical vs non-surgical healing and subsequently went in to the fracture clinic armed with an argument for getting surgery. My other half is a doctor so she actually did most of the research and came in with me. We found that surgical intervention is just about the norm now in the US and becoming far more prevalent in the UK, especially for acive people. It turned out not to be necessary as the consultant immediately told me how bad the situation was and recommended I go in for surgery the next day. The key issue is whether or not the fracture is displaced or not. My right shoulder was effectively 3.5 cm shorter than my left (ie closer to my neck) because the bone sections weren't lined up. Apart from looking odd, this would have left me with some mobility issues: something I can't live with as a kayaker / swimmer.

The attached file gives a pretty good summary of the thinking.

Even after surgery my recovery is taking quite some time as the floating section of bone had to be secured with plates at both ends and "filled" with artificail bone to get some blood flow going to start the repair.

As I write, I'm ten weeks post accident and eight weeks post op. I've been out of the sling for three weeks now but I'm still not allowed to do any weight-bearing. I've been able to run since getting out of the sling and just started some gentle cycling this week (on my tourer as it's a more comfortable ride). I have about 80% mobility of the shoulder at the moment and very little strength. Hopefully I will start physio after my next fracture clinic in a week from now.

Unfortunately, I'm also getting quite a bit of pain at the moment while I work hard at regaining mobility: hence being up at this time checking out the forum. It's not really that bad but I prefer to manage my pain by being active rather than taking a load of drugs as I find the side effects to be more irritating than the pain.

Good luck with your recovery.

1 Attachment

• clavicular_shaft.pdf

"filled" with artificial bone

?? Was this a bone graft of your own tissue, or something else?

They use coral for some procedures, that or bone harvested from (typically I believe) your hip.

?? Was this a bone graft of your own tissue, or something else?

Completely artificial and created in a lab. I think it goes in as a thick paste rather than a solid piece.

There were issues with the plate they had planned to use being unsuitable once they opened me up and the bone ends being in a worse condition than expected. They had to chop some damaged bits away so I guess that left spaces to be filled. It turned into a bit of an epic operation and I was on the table for four hours.

Golly.

Where did you get your op done?

I had problems with the gap between the two pieces of my bone not filling in for a long time, I had a plate put in and subsequently removed, but the tissue didnt grow very fast because the location of the break didnt have much circulation.

If there was some sort of artificial bone replacement available then I'd have happily taken that. Whats the name of the material? And how does it work? I dont understand how it would have the capacity to replace / regrow existing organic bone tissue, unless the material was organic itself (and then surely there would be problems with your body rejecting the replacement tissue - which is the reason that they do a bone graft from your own hip marrow...?)

Blimey. I was on the table not operating. I don't understand either. I'm just repeating what I've been told but if you Google "artificial bone" you get a lot of hits.

I had my operation on the NHS in North Wales.

Sorry that's probably not very helpful. I guess I can ask for more detail at my next appointment in a week.

Not pertinant to this in many ways but they use coral as a neutral scaffold that the body won't reject, it's cell structure means that new bone grows over and through it- when i was having my broken jaw fixed the surgeon talked to me about it, as they somethimes have to use it to fill gaps and so forth

Where did you get your op done?

I had problems with the gap between the two pieces of my bone not filling in for a long time, I had a plate put in and subsequently removed, but the tissue didnt grow very fast because the location of the break didnt have much circulation.

If there was some sort of artificial bone replacement available then I'd have happily taken that. Whats the name of the material? And how does it work? I dont understand how it would have the capacity to replace / regrow existing organic bone tissue, unless the material was organic itself (and then surely there would be problems with your body rejecting the replacement tissue - which is the reason that they do a bone graft from your own hip marrow...?)

Normal bone grafting involves cutting several small pieces of hip bone (usually) out, grinding it up, and carefully inserting the coarse bone powder in-between the breaks.
I had this done 4 times on separate breaks to my Femur after a few mistakes by french surgeons (skiing accident).

Have no real idea how it works but I'd make a guess that both with the bone and artificial material, they act as a bridge between 2 pieces of bone allowing new blood vessels to form and with it new bone(?)

Who / what / where were you treated by / with/ at?
Mr Hanna / Eh? Clavicle? / Ysbyty Glan Clwyd (NHS)/ plates, screws, artificial bone / Bodelwyddan

The procedure has never been represented to me by the hospital as anything particularly out of the ordinary - except the time I spent on the table due to the minor upsets of the first choice plate not fitting and the bone ends being a bit ragged and needing repair.

Have you read the document I attached?

After reading this thread I feel pretty lucky

I had a bad crash at HH five and a half weeks ago. broke my collarbone but it didn't actually break all the way through. Doctor pretty much dismissed me at the fracture clinic 2 weeks after. It'll heal itself I was told.

I had limited movement after 1.5-2 weeks and full movement returned after 4. This week I've got some strength back and yesterday on a bike. Result.

Having broken my collarbone twice and recieved treatment from 2 different hospitals I'm amazed by the different attitudes in treatment. I think what treatment you receive is heavily dictated by both the hospital policy and the personal opinions of the orthopedic consultant that you see.

What's right for one person though isn't always right for another though, and probably many people are failed by a blanket approach that is necessary within the vastness of the NHS for what is typically a minor injury. That's not the case if you're a cyclist though and have more demands on your collarbone, but it can be difficult to get people to hear that. Unfortunately I only realised what the right course of treatment for me was when it came to the second break!

Yes, a lot seems to depend on the local Trust or consultant. I went in armed with research, ready to argue my case for surgery and was pleasantly surprised to be offered surgical intervention immediately.

Ouch. Thats a serious mess. Surgery definitely. Good luck with it. Its not that bad.

(Had plates put in and removed on both sides)

Looking at the image it's amazing to think that you would be offered anything but surgery isn't it? Even my consultant gave me the option though. I think we probably underestimate the lack of importance non-active people give to function versus the pain, hassle and risk of an operation.

I've only just seen this, Dan. Bad luck! I'm glad you've got a second opinion. A friend of mine broke her collarbone two months ago and was initially advised not to choose surgical intervention. That led to no healing--she then got a second opinion and is now in much better hands, it seems. Good luck with further progress--hope any operations go well!

I'm just recovering from a double fracture that was repaired surgically. Although I was hospitalised after the accident nobody from orthopaedics looked at me until I attended fracture clinic a week after being discharged (other injuries were more urgent).....etc

The attached file gives a pretty good summary of the thinking.

For those who appreciate really good screw work, I'd urge you to check out Figure 2 in the PDF.

Very neat job!

You in overnight, or off home after you wake up?