Allergic to metal, Sternum won't heal

I have a friend who had triple-bypass surgery over a year ago. He is allergic to any type metal, so in order to close him back up they used an alternative.  The altenative was some type of surgical rope.  His chest still moves.  The doctors thought that scar tissue would eventuallly  knit him back together, but failed. So far they have found nothing that they can use to correct this problem.  Any metal at all is out of the question.  You can actually feel his sternum move when you touch it.  This tends to be very painful at times, especially when laughing or any quick movement.  Are you aware of any alternative product that could be used to knit him back together?  Remember no metal clips or anything can be left in.


This discussion is related to healing of sternum after bypass surgery.

[Archibald S Miller III, MD,FACS]

I am Dr. Arch Miller. I am on the reconstructive forum. Your friend can probably have titanium used on him as it is impossible to be allergic to that alloy. The "rope" that was used is likely a cable that is actually a metal. His sternum will never heal in its current state. I recommend that he see Dr. Scott Levin of Duke University, Dr. James Spann of Tulsa, Oklahoma or myself to consider having this fixed. Go to  the web site rapidsternalclosure.com and you will see a  very efficient way of dealing with this problem. We have done over 500 cases with great success and I feel that your friend would benefit from this. Feel free to contact me or the others at their offices to get further information or to see us. This problem can be fixed. One way to test for an allergy is to just tape some of the metal ton his skin. If he breaks out, then it is allergy, if not, then he is not allergic. I hope this helps,respectfully,
                    arch s miller ms md facs