Anybody had Surgical pins removed?

I have 6 pins and a heel plate in my foot. They have been in nearly 8 years. They have started to feel strange in the last year(hard to describe). Went to see a consultant yesterday, who very quickly said they should be removed.
Anybody had pins removed after a long time?
Any Dr’s or surgeon’s on here with advice?
A pic of the scar the 1st time around below.
Don’t really fancy it being opened again!!
Cheers

How did you do that??

fell about 8 metres!!

had pins removed 6 months after toe surgery – 2 of them, each about 25mm long – was pretty sore for a week afterwards, but much nicer now not being able to feel them under the skin

They only take them out if there’s a real need, due to the risk of infection,in particular because you’re exposing a series of holes in to the bone. I’d ask why your orthapedic consultant thinks it’s necesary to remove them now.

In what way do they feel “strange”? I’m often conscious of mine but I’d think long and hard about having them taken out.

they shouldnt need to open you up as much to get them out. Depends on what and where but they only need to expose the screw heads and the ends of the wires.

forgot to say i have a heel plate in there as well, so it wll need to be fully opened

ive had 31 pins through my body over the years and its better to have them out IMO, just take it easy on the ankle for 6 months afterwards. HTH

Had a femoral nail removed after a year, nothing like yours though as I could walk on mine immediately although I had to use crutches. I was only allowed to have half weight bearing on the leg for a few weeks before building back to full weight bearing over another month and i think it was a while longer before I was allowed to run on it.

Glad to have it removed as it was causing or exacerbating bursitis in my hip and running on a rigid steel pin was very uncomfortable as it lacked the shock absorbing flexibility of bone (felt like my femur and hip was being hit with a hammer).

In my case it was well worth doing, a few weeks of hassle/discomfort for complete normality to be restored.

Infection isn’t the only reason to remove them – if it is having an effect on your quality of life it can be worth having them removed too, especially if you are still reasonably “young”. As with all operations, there’s a balance of risk with general anaesthetic, post op infection etc. to consider.

I had my collarbone plate and 7 screws removed after just over a year. Surgeon said that since I was likely to break it again it would break more cleanly and be easier to fix if there wasn’t any metalwork in there which would push the break closer to the joints. He thought I was likely to do it again because I ride a mountain bike, a muni, and I ski. It was quick and relatively painless.

Yes – from my hand, 3 weeks after the Op, no anaesthetic. It was extremely painful, and the doc had to go away and come back with a bigger set of pliers, had his leg up on the table for leverage. There were bits of my flesh on the pins when they came out. I really regret not punching that dude.

Get knocked right out for this !!

Had these;

(not the 5p)

removed from my hip under general after 18 months. He had to use molegrips as he rounded a couple of the bolt heads off 🙁

Best thing I did – far less problems fromt he hip now and I don’t have to worry about trapping muscle ‘tween bolt heads and the edge of tables etc if I knock myself.

Best thing I did – far less problems fromt he hip now and I don’t have to worry about trapping muscle ‘tween bold heads and the edge of tables etc if I knock myself.

Which is ******* painful – my nail was proud at my hip and if i rolled on it on a hard floor it was agony. Even on a soft bed it was very uncomfortable.

agree Earl_Grey – mine stuck out a fair bit and made laying on that side a bit of a lottery. It did seem to be the edges of tables that caused the most problems though.

had shoulder plate and pins out after a year. The relief was immense, even straight after waking up after the op – after such a long time, you get used to the discomfort, but when it’s gone, it’s a revelation!

get em out!

smashed up my wrist 13 or so years ago. bones in the wrist ‘died’ so i had to get it re-built with bits of my hip bone held together with screws, etc. they left them in…… it aches sometimes but doesn’t bother me too much – could almost remove it myself as i’m sure i can feel the flat-head through my skin! LOL

Had my left arm / elbow pinned 25 years ago following an over ambitious attempt at a drop off on my Tomohawk. The arm never went straight after that, with various consultants advising yes take it out, no it won’t make a difference, so I just lived with it. I was never keen on loosing the use of it for another year – however, as TJ says, these days (and I guess depending on the original injury) it might be a very simple procedure.

Cheers for all your replies. A difficult decision due to not wanting a scar like above again. It really hurt!!!
The consultant i saw said if they are causing me problems then take them out, then if i still have problems when they are out then they would fuse the ankle joint!
When i have my foot on the floor it feels like i can feel them pulling inside(hard to describe).
I think i am going to try and contact the original surgeon as my damage was extensive and i have lost the Pronation and Supination movement of the foot.
Keep your experiences coming though
8)