Follow up to my earlier thread, Remove arm cast before healed? Finally going in this Thursday for bone graft surgery with Dr. Lilley at Garey Orthopedic. I'll be getting the graft from my own iliac crest which I'm told will provide the greatest chance of success. Has anyone here had bone taken from their hip before? I'm told it will be significantly more painful than breaking my arm. Any lasting effects? Wondering about it from a biker's perspective... will I continue to have hip pain during rides? Years/decades later? Were you on crutches after surgery? I'm a bit nervous but more so extremely excited to be moving forward. Thanks!
Just curious: Why not an artificial graft? I got one in my collarbone in June and the bone is filling in well around it. Have you sought a second opinion?
I've seen three different surgeons and consulted my physical therapist, this was not a decision I just jumped into. We considered artificial graft with BMP, cadaver cancellous bone, and my own cortical bone from my iliac crest. The reason for going with my own bone is that my gap is unusually large (6mm) and has been inactive since April. They call it an atrophic nonunion, meaning the bone has shown essentially no sign of growth at all. If I went with allograft or artificial bone and it didn't take, I would end up needing an autograft anyway. I'm trying to avoid additional surgeries and give myself the greatest chance of healing with only one additional procedure. Lilley has done many autografts on the scaphoid and is a local expert on hand, wrist, and arm issues. I was seeing another doc in Upland but felt more comfortable with Lilley. My procedure will involve removing the current plate & six screws from my ulna, cutting down the bone till it's bleeding, inserting the bone graft, then installing a stronger, smaller plate that isn't inside my wrist joint. Old screw holes as well as the graft site will be filled with cancellous cadaver bone.
So I saw Lilley for my break. It wasn't a good experience, but I think that most of that was b/c he's an arm and wrist guy. It sounds like you aren't getting dumped to him by blue cross, so cool. Oh, and don't go killing people with your possesed dead guy arm.
I remember you telling me that... we seem to get along well and I've heard very good things about his work. I only wish the hardware in my arm was magnetic so I could play tricks on people...
I wasn't implying that you did. Like I said, was just curious. My ortho gave me the impression that hip grafts are not done that often anymore. Maybe he meant in situations similar to mine. Best of luck with your surgery and recovery. :beer:
Right, sorry if that came off wrong, didn't mean to act defensively there (thanks, internet communications). Here is a simplified drawing of why my doc explained that a chunk of my own bone should heal faster and more successfully than artificial or cadaver bone. I think hip grafts are still the norm on problem bones, such as the scaphoid with low blood flow or in my case where the bone underwent severe trauma. Artificial grafts are becoming more common, especially here in southern California where medical technology is further advanced than many other places. Thanks for the well wishes, I hope to finally move on from this and be back on the bike in time to train for VQ next March. Best of luck with your collarbone.
