New Complication to My Femur Fracture">New Complication to My Femur Fracture

The technical term for the current status of the two breaks in my femur is nonunion. In translation, it means that bone growth appears to have ceased and the bridging of the fractures with new bone growth is not complete.

While not common, nonunion is one of the complications to bone fractures. Significant bone growth should occur within three months of the injury. However, the November X-rays didn’t show signs of bone growth. The first signs of bone growth were in December. Yesterday, while I was waiting to get a new set of X-rays, Dr. Erpelding stopped in the waiting room and talked to me for a few minutes. In regards to the continued pain in my leg, Dr. Erpelding mentioned that new bone growth may have stopped. Apparently, the body has an internal clock that stops bone growth after a period of time. For the femur, this can happen around six or seven months.

After getting the X-rays, Dr. Erpelding did see signs that the bone growth had stopped. At the same, there were signs of partial bridging, with the upper break appearing to have more bridging than the lower break. Weight on the leg is what triggers growth of new bone. Consequently, the course of action is to resume normal activity for the next four weeks. If body restarts bone growth, I should feel a reduction in pain. An increase in pain means that the nonunion is too great to support normal activity.  If this happens, the appointment on April 29 becomes a surgery preparation appointment.

The broken screw and pin that is too long produce their own annoying pains, but they can’t be dealt with until the bone heals. It also appears that the stress of the fall resulted in some arthritis in the knee. Hopefully, normal activity will slow this down.

The saga continues for another four weeks.