After quite a stupid bike crash (on our way to the swimtraining, on our everydaybikes…)
my girlfriend broke her scaphoid bone in her wrist. It all happened somewhere in April, but because of a wrong diagnosis the treatment started in June with twelve weeks with her underarm placed in a cast. It didn’t heal, so now they have to take a bone graft from her pelvis and place that on the broken bone with a screw or something.
Are there any athletes who also had a bone graft taken from there hip-bone? What are the experiences? How long did it take before normal running was possible?
Thanks,
HJ
After quite a stupid bike crash (on our way to the swimtraining, on our everydaybikes…)
my girlfriend broke her scaphoid bone in her wrist. It all happened somewhere in April, but because of a wrong diagnosis the treatment started in June with twelve weeks with her underarm placed in a cast. It didn’t heal, so now they have to take a bone graft from her pelvis and place that on the broken bone with a screw or something.
Are there any athletes who also had a bone graft taken from there hip-bone? What are the experiences? How long did it take before normal running was possible?
Thanks,
HJ
Years ago I broke my right calcaneus into a bunch of small pieces and had bone taken from my hip to replace some of the smaller fragments of bone. It wasn’t very painful, or at least it wasn’t a relatively painful aspect of the experience. Can’t really help with the resuming running question. Probably would have been able to within a few days. Talk to your doctor about this - but IIRC they take bone from your hip because there’s just so darn much of the stuff. So I think she’ll be fine. OTOH, if she catches you referring to her bike crash as “stupid”, you could find yourself in the kind of trouble that makes a pelvic bone graft look like a picnic.
I dont think the small amount of bone that is removerd from her hip will limit her running ability as it is generally taken from the top where no other bones articulate with it. But… the limiting factor for returning to running will be giving the graft/injury TIME to heal. The constant pounding that vibrates throughout the body when running will decrease the microscopic healing process. Maybe that was why the wrist didnt heal well to begin with. If her surgeon says no running for 6-8 weeks that means NO running for 6-8 weeks. If she does and it doesnt heal well, dont blame the surgeon. Hope everything turns out well.
I had bone taken from my iliac crest to repair my wrist 5 years ago. Honestly I had more pain at the graft site than I did in my wrist, it was shorter in duration but it fucking hurt. Really made it hard to walk for 3-4 days. After that the pain went away quickly and all I have now is a barely visible scar on my right hip. I wasn’t running then so I have no idea how long it will be, but I bet her doctor does.
I had this procedure done at the end of May to repair a non-union in my arm. While there is nothing structural associated with the Iliac Crest, there will be pain and some serious swelling with-in 4 days of the procedure. I was not allowed to run for some time due to the risk of a fall and damaging the graft site and my new metal work. Said, I was not inclined to run as there was a fair amount of tissue cut to take the graft and as a result considerable pain and swelling. There are a couple of shots on my website under the “accident photos” tab. The hip shots are in reverse order - with the first being 5 days post-op when the swelling peaked and the last is a 2-3 days after the procedure.
i had a plate put in to fix a broken collar bone, and was told by my doctor before the operation that he may have to take a piece of bone from my hip to graft in. he warned me that the hip part might hurt worse than the shoulder part. turns out i didn’t need the bone graft, so i don’t know for sure.
You may want to see another doctor. In 2002, I had a compound fracture of my right leg. My fibula was literally shattered and was at more than a 90 degree angle. After several months with an external fixator, my ortho, who is also a triathlete, did a newer procedure in which they draw blood from you and spin out the growth platlets and they become a paste, He then packed the area with the paste, put a plate in, and in two weeks you could see bone growth where there was none in over 5 months. He actually had me walk, with some assistance, on it the next day after the operation. I had not put any weight on it since the accident. This completely avoids hip complcations, etc. I sent a a friend that broke his elbow to my dr. and he had the same procedure done and was simply amazed at how soon he was back swimming again…This is why on a earlier post that i said to make sure the doc you go to really understands athletes, is on the cutting edge, and is not just calling themselves a “sports doctor”.
George
This is actually not really “cutting edge” as the Symphony tm autologous harvesting has been around for a while now (I’ve done it for 8 years) 
But, sometimes, you want the structural component of tricortical bone graft (usually from the iliac crest).
And to the OP - the hip graft donor site will heal fine, but as another poster eluded to, often actually hurts worse than the “main” surgical site!
I did say I had it done in 2002. At that time, two other “sports doctors” had told me that my future would be to walk with a limp the rest of my life, no way to running, and a bone graft was my only option. None of which turned out to be even remotely accurate. So the procedure is a few years old, I am curious to know if there is something more “cutting edge”. (I’m not flaming you, just curious) and I am sure the OP would like to know all options to discuss with their ortho. If their ortho has never done any other type of procedure than bone grafts, why should they not go see someone that has and inquire if some other, less painful and intrusive alternative, is possible?
Absolutely sound advice! I always advocate a 2nd opinion if the surgery is elective and there is time (sometimes there is not or it would be detrimental to wait). Didn’t see your time line - sorry! Also, in general, walk (or rather run) away from anyone that gives you a sort of “ultimatum” statement like “you will never walk again without a limp” type line.
I’ve had some pretty major medical stuff. My advice is:
- Be proactive in your health care. Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to sound ignorant. If you Dr. can’t make you understand it’s probably their deficiency. Don’t have anything done where you don’t understand.
- Always get a second opinion. I saw two of the specialists, recommended independently. I saw two surgeons, recommended independently. I went with the first of each, but honestly, the co-pay was insignificant compared to my life.
- Question I always ask (although or may or may not help):
“Are there any questions I didn’t ask that I should have?”
You can get surprising answers.
- Check your Dr’s against the local Board of Medical Examiners. If you have questions, ask them. I did.
-Jot
Exactly. I had a bone graft from my hip 15 year ago to fix a non-healing metacarpal in my foot. Worked like a charm. But surgery should be avoided if possible. Her doctor is a moron for missing the problem in the first place. Go see someone else.
And that blood-paste thing sounds cool. I’d look into that.
Thanks for all the input so far! We didn’t knew very much about this kind of treatment because here (The Netherlands) they prefer to solve this problem without any surgery, so it’s quite uncommon. The medics told her there would be some pain because of the bone graft, but specific experiences from other athletes always is of great value.
Reading the reactions I’ve got some thinks to clear out;
-It really was a stupid crash; a girl trying to kiss the guy she’s riding next to… not a good idea at 7:00 in the morning. Luckely I didn’t broke anything ;)…
-The wrong diagnosis was set by herself; she’s physiotherapist. After the crash she could move it quite easily, and there was hardly any swelling, it also didn’t show any signs of something internal bleeding. After 6wks she desided it was time for an x-ray, because there was no improvement in function. The doctor thats going to do the surgery is an specialized in hand surgery.
Quite interesting story about the treatment with centrifuged blood platelets by the way, never heard of it.
CU
HJ