I broke my right ulna and dislocated my right radius on January 22 2012. I was kicked by a horse.
I had surgery later the same day which resulted in a plate (6 screws). The plaster cast was removed 2 weeks post surgery replaced by a fiberglass cast. At 6 weeks post surgery more x-rays were taken and the arm was recasted for an additional 3 weeks. At the time the orthopedic surgeon indicated no signs of soft callus. After 3 weeks, the cast was removed even though no callus was observed in order to start physiotherapy.
4-5 weeks post cast removal I began to experience jolting pain radiating from my elbow to the inside of my forearm. As well, if I held my arm in the air and bent my elbow, I had severe pain in what felt like the bone in the plate area. I returned to the surgeon who x-rayed and then re-casted my arm. At the time he indicated that he could not see a source for my pain. There was still no evidence of bone callus forming. I was in the cast for 3 weeks and attended my scheduled appointment with the surgeon where the cast was removed and my arm x-rayed. The x-ray showed that the plate had failed. It was cracked straight through one side of a screw hole. I went into surgery the next evening and had the plate removed, my bones were trimmed and an allograft was completed. A plate 3 times thicker than the original was installed. Tissue samples were taken to see if there was any underlying conditions/infection which could explain the delay. They were negative. This was 8 weeks ago today.
After the first surgery/accident I had numbness in my pinky and ring fingers and after the second surgery I had numbness in my middle finger as well. 2 weeks ago the numbess turned to pins and needles and tingling. I went to the emergency department and they x-rayed my arm in-cast and decided to remove the cast. 2 weeks out of cast (which did not solve the numbness and tingling issues) and I attended my scheduled surgeon's apointment. He x-rayed my arm and indicated no callus development and re-casted my arm.
My question is: I have now been in a cast in excess of 4 months since January. I know saving the bone is the first priority, however I am unsure if casting is the best option. I have been told that I will have permanent loss of function, the extent of which can't be answered right now. Is there something I should be doing to encourage bone growth?? Is there something I should be looking into in terms of reasons for delayed union?? I am deeply concerned about this situation. This is my dominant arm and I want to ensure I am making the best decisions for the best outcome in this situation.
Any advice would be appreciated. I am a 42 year old femail with no other known health issues.
Cynthia