I sustained a trimalleolar fracture with dislocation to my right ankle on 6th May (21 weeks ago), it's been a pretty long road but I'm nearly there! I had an ORIF the day after my accident, 10 screws & a plate, 2 screws to fix the inside of my ankle to my fibula, the plate 8 screws are on my fibula.
The only issue i'm having is I can really feel my metal work & my Physio is now concerned as I should be getting very much more movement than I am. She thinks the tendon on the inside is being restricted from the metal work... Does anyone have any experience of this & had the same injury? They are now considering removed be the screws to the inside of my ankle but I'm really concerned about the recovery time & strength on my leg afterwards, has anyone had metal work removed & would you recommend?
Thank you!
Hi there
I had a very similar injury 12 months ago. I didn't have any surgery and was just left in plaster for my 3 breaks to heal.
12 months later I am still very restricted with my movement. I cannot wear heels above a certain height and cannot crouch down at all as my ankle won't bend any more than 90 degrees. My ankle is also quite painful still.
I've actually just paid for a private MRI which has shown torn medial ligament on the inside of my ankle and another one on the other side of my foot along with surface damage on my talus.
I'm feeling really let down and wished I'd had surgery as they may have noticed these issues then but now it's too late.
I'm waiting for referral to another ankle specialist to
see what can be done.
My advice is to speak to your consultant about your concerns before they discharge you and hopefully you won't be waiting as long as me to be back to normal. (If I ever am!)
Cheers Ruby
Hi Stephie, I have not had my two screws removed yet, but my doctor will be doing that early next year. Some doctors do not remove them and some do. My left ankle is pretty much frozen. I can't sit like I use to (with my L. foot under my right leg). I walk slow and I limp. I'll probbaly limp forever. But that is just me. I wish you luck! Maybe if they remove those screws, you will have less issues.
Beth
hey there. July of 2014 i spiral fractured my fibula in 3 places and broke my ankle. They put 2 screws in my ankle and a plate and 9 screws in the fib. i could see the screw heads poking out of my skin on my ankle (mentally couldn't get over this), so i had my doc take the 2 screws out of my ankle. it was a very easy procedure and the rehab time was 7-10 days. i didn't notice a difference in the discomfort that i have from before or after the screws were in my ankle. I have a definite restriction on the flexability around the ankle, but i didn't get the plate remove and i have wondered if it could be the tendons have been restricted. i think to remove the plate though, i would need to do it in steps as my doc said having 9 holes in the bone would weaken my leg and not allow me to play indoor soccer or the softball teams that I am on. i would think if you took out 2 at a time and then let the bone fill in, you could do it that way, but then there is a probability of making the scars even worse. if you just want to do the 2 ankle screws, i'd recommend it as it was pretty easy.