why aren’t metal plates removed when the bones are fully healed?
In: 3
There are risks with any operation. Not only can the surgeon make mistakes but you can get dangerous infections through the incision which can cause even more issues. In any case you need time for the second surgery to heal including the bones where it attached to the plates. And in a lot of cases there is no issues leaving the hardware in place inside the body, it is certainly less of a problem then a surgery to remove it would be.
There are however cases where the hardware is causing issues and needs to be removed. Especially for smaller bones or fractures near joints it is not that uncommon to attach the plates to other pieces of bone then the ones that are fractured. This helps keep everything in place while it is healing. However it does limit the movement of the limbs so it needs to be removed, or at least part of it needs to be removed. There may still be hardware left inside the body after such a surgery, for example it is easier to just leave the screws in place and just remove the plate.
Latest Answers