I recently had an ORIF of right clavicle with a bone graft taken from
Iliac Crest . I recently had a Tomogram the findings were no signs of
the fracture healing. It has been 4 months post-op. I always used to be
an athletic person, if you have any input into this please inform me. I
am also a nurse so i know a little about what is going on. They are
talking about more bone grafting, very scared. By the way im only 29
years old not sure why bone not healing.
Shawna, there is often a great deal of difficulty getting the clavicle to heal
in this situation. In fact, most orthopedists prefer not to do the surgery as a
result. I have seen several such patients in my clinic, and the last on was a 30
year old fitness trainer/tennis player who wanted her clavicle repaired . The
orthopedist eventually used an implanted electrical bone stimulator to
facillitate bone growth, but it did not start to heal until she began to load
the clavicle. Keep in mind that the optimal stimulus for bone growth is
biomechanical energy in the line of stress. In other words, loading without
sheer. Sheering would result in a pseudarthrosis. The problem with the clavicle,
is that it is shaped like a crank handle, and it's primary motion is rotation as
it is elevted and depressed. naturally, rotational motions cause the fracture
lines to separate, and as a result, the bone cannot begin to form a callous. We
started our patient by having her use her injured arm to support her while she
did modified bench rows and a whole series of pain free weight bearing
exercises. she went on to heal, and when I talked to her yesterday, she had just
played in a two hour tennis match with no restrictions, and no pain. Good luck!
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