Sternum - NON UNION

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Richard Deal on June 27, 2010 at 21:40

hey laura,
i have my xray here from 2 weeks post op so you can see how many wires were holding me together (i have osteoporosis so the bones are not as dense as they should appear):

i make it six (the sixth is right at the top of the picture, the round 45° slanty one is the heart valve i think).
i have a lump on the left had side of the bottom of my ribcage, almost as if the rib was broken and didn't set properly when it was healed. i also have terrible pains the entire length of my sternum if i ever lie on my front. however, i can't feel any gaps though down the breastbone.
when i was in hospital they mentioned something about the wire that they use being made of silver, which will be absorbed by the body, so maybe the three you know about are just the "leftovers"...
as an aside, putting the xray back into the massive envelope i keep it in i found a second xray taken from the side that i never knew i had! tried to scan it in, but it is mostly black apart from the heart valve...
hope that this helps!
r

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laura Chapman on June 28, 2010 at 13:13

Thank you so much for going to all that trouble. I've just spoken to a friend who was a scrub nurse in cardio thoracics up until 5 years ago and she says that she's never seen less than 6 wires used to join a sternum. This is very worrying, I never saw my post op Xray but someone must have and presumably they thought it was okay. I suppose they could have changed their practice but obviously it doesn't work for everyone. Sorry to hear you have osteoparosis, its a worry I have for the future my mum and her 3 sisters all suffered from it so I think now would be a good time to get checked out. I'll let you know what happens.

Richard Deal said:

hey laura,
i have my xray here from 2 weeks post op so you can see how many wires were holding me together (i have osteoporosis so the bones are not as dense as they should appear):

i make it six (the sixth is right at the top of the picture, the round 45° slanty one is the heart valve i think).
i have a lump on the left had side of the bottom of my ribcage, almost as if the rib was broken and didn't set properly when it was healed. i also have terrible pains the entire length of my sternum if i ever lie on my front. however, i can't feel any gaps though down the breastbone.
when i was in hospital they mentioned something about the wire that they use being made of silver, which will be absorbed by the body, so maybe the three you know about are just the "leftovers"...
as an aside, putting the xray back into the massive envelope i keep it in i found a second xray taken from the side that i never knew i had! tried to scan it in, but it is mostly black apart from the heart valve...
hope that this helps!
r

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Graeme on June 30, 2010 at 12:50

Hi Laura

I had 6 ties - they were NOT silver (!) I think they were surgical stainless steel twisted together...NEVER heard of only 3 ties..check wiht your specialist on this one! Here's a link sone xrays on this topic from the Patients Guide for Heart Surgey book which is a good site.. Alos my wires are still in chest and show up on all xrays i have some 7 years later.... Also my sternum from bottom to top is solid - no fingerholes (?) Laura - hope this helps..

cheers Graeme

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John Norfolk on June 30, 2010 at 20:37

Hi Laura

not sure how much this will help as I'm 28years post op! Had the op when I was 10 and due again soon for AVR. Don't know how many stitches I had but am sure it was more than 3. It's hard not to worry but try not to stress, I'm sure there is an explanation, maybe only 3 were visible on the xray. I don't have any large gaps in my sternum but I do have a definate dip. I would have thought that if it was actually a hole you would be in some pain. Your surgeon is definately the person to see I'm sure they will re-assure you. Try to be positive, your sternum is just a broken bone, hopefully your procedure was a success and you now have a healthy heart.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laura Chapman on July 5, 2010 at 20:20

Okay - panic over (almost). I rang the nurse specialist again and told her about the 3 wires and she made me an appointment with the surgeon the next day. Apparently I have a narrow sternum making it difficult to get wires in there so he put 3 steel wires and a further 6 Ethibond sutures which don't show up on Xray (he described it as industrial strength suture material which goes through the sternum the same as the wire but because the needle is finer it doesn't compromise the integrity of the bone). The edges have butted up together so it feels like a ridge with a gap in the middle but after much poking and prodding (ouch ouch ouch) he says its healing okay but to be careful with lifting etc and not to do anything that puts stress on it. He reckons it can continue to heal and strengthen for up to a year and when I described some of the activities I'd been doing he says I've been doing too much so I'll throttle back and take it a bit easier. What a relief, although it has made me rather nervous.

Great to hear your valve lasted all those years but how dreadful to go through that op when you were only 10 years old. Good luck with the new one.
Thanks Graeme and Richard for your info.

John Norfolk said:

Hi Laura

not sure how much this will help as I'm 28years post op! Had the op when I was 10 and due again soon for AVR. Don't know how many stitches I had but am sure it was more than 3. It's hard not to worry but try not to stress, I'm sure there is an explanation, maybe only 3 were visible on the xray. I don't have any large gaps in my sternum but I do have a definate dip. I would have thought that if it was actually a hole you would be in some pain. Your surgeon is definately the person to see I'm sure they will re-assure you. Try to be positive, your sternum is just a broken bone, hopefully your procedure was a success and you now have a healthy heart.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by wendy williams on December 12, 2010 at 23:32

wow this is great i can feel mine when i feel the scare .i was scared to death with everything that happen to me .i add 2 replace and i had a few things happen along the way,i would just not look at anythink like this before i ad my op.but i seem to want to no everyfink now 

Laura Chapman said:

Okay - panic over (almost). I rang the nurse specialist again and told her about the 3 wires and she made me an appointment with the surgeon the next day. Apparently I have a narrow sternum making it difficult to get wires in there so he put 3 steel wires and a further 6 Ethibond sutures which don't show up on Xray (he described it as industrial strength suture material which goes through the sternum the same as the wire but because the needle is finer it doesn't compromise the integrity of the bone). The edges have butted up together so it feels like a ridge with a gap in the middle but after much poking and prodding (ouch ouch ouch) he says its healing okay but to be careful with lifting etc and not to do anything that puts stress on it. He reckons it can continue to heal and strengthen for up to a year and when I described some of the activities I'd been doing he says I've been doing too much so I'll throttle back and take it a bit easier. What a relief, although it has made me rather nervous.

Great to hear your valve lasted all those years but how dreadful to go through that op when you were only 10 years old. Good luck with the new one.
Thanks Graeme and Richard for your info.

John Norfolk said:

Hi Laura

not sure how much this will help as I'm 28years post op! Had the op when I was 10 and due again soon for AVR. Don't know how many stitches I had but am sure it was more than 3. It's hard not to worry but try not to stress, I'm sure there is an explanation, maybe only 3 were visible on the xray. I don't have any large gaps in my sternum but I do have a definate dip. I would have thought that if it was actually a hole you would be in some pain. Your surgeon is definately the person to see I'm sure they will re-assure you. Try to be positive, your sternum is just a broken bone, hopefully your procedure was a success and you now have a healthy heart.

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion