Metal plate removal for broken bone – really necessary or just a precaution?

Maybe not 100% relavant to a japanlife post, but there is a connection.

I broke my wrist last year and had to get surgery – a metal plate for a broken radius. Feels nearly 100%, with really no pain whatsoever, and the rehab process has been finished for months. I will go back to the hospital to speak to the surgeon this week to speak about potential metal plate removal.

I would prefer not to get it done to avoid the incovenvience/unpleasantness of another surgury, and he had mentioned that it’s something that is ‘done in Japan’ but not 100 percent necessary (just
\- somewhat strongly – suggested). Reading what I have online, there seems to be some agreement to just ‘keep it in’ as long as its not causing any discomfort (with a smaller minority suggesting to take it out as a precaution).

Just wondering if the push to get it removed is a typical ‘better safe than sorry’ approach done in Japan, rather than something that is really necessary?

Perhaps others have some experience.

Thanks in advance.

10 comments
  1. For some locations, leaving the plate in is not an issue (I have one on my collarbone, docs said it may bother if I carry a backpack with a strap there–it doesn’t).

    Sis in the US had a screw or two in a broken foot bone(s) that started working their way out on their own. She had them removed.

    I guess it may depend on the ‘installation’ and type of plate–was it done with later removal in mind, or was it done/designed so that it could stay there.

    Flip a coin?

  2. I had metal plates in my ankle after a fall. The way it was explained to me is, if you ever happen to have another accident, the metal screws/plate being there can cause the bone to break in a much more complex way than if there was nothing there, meaning next time, we might not be able to fix it.

    FWIW, insurance covers the removal, you may be able to get a payout from any optional life insurance policies you have, and the pain/inconvenience of surgery is considerably less than when they put the metal in.

  3. (As a person with two plates now… grumble) The goal is to get rid of them and return the bone to original right? If you’re not old, and you can get the plate out without major surgery, if it comes out the bone will heal up properly. Basically good as new right?

    I’ll be taking out my wrist plate in late march once work calms down a bit and I can take the two weeks off to do basic healing.

    My ankle plate has been in there for 7 years now and doesn’t bother me, but it was installed with the idea that it would be removed within the year, but I had such a miserable time with the surgery that I just left it there.

  4. I recently (last week) had plates put in my wrist. My doctor told me as long as they’re not causing me problems they will stay in. That’s probably what this is, tell him you want to leave the plates/screws in.

  5. Some people develop allergies down the line, not sure how rare it is. My cousin had tons of hardware from various accidents and suddenly developed a nickel allergy. He couldn’t wear glasses or wear belt buckles and realized that nickel was in way more things than any of us realized.

    He got everything taken out and I think the allergies settled down. I haven’t heard him mention them in years so I assume he’s better.

  6. To add: For screws and small plates here, I think titanium is most common, if not universal. My hip is a combination of Ti (screws to hold the cup in, and a couple plates on my pelvis), main/function part is cobalt-chromium (CrCo), the bearing/moving part of the joint is ceramic. X-rays show that someone seems to have spilled a tackle box in there.

  7. Had a wrist plate taken out here a year after it was put in. The surgeon left it up to me to decide whether I kept it in or had it taken out. The surgery to remove it is about 10% of the pain and trouble of having it put in. Took about an hour. I had it taken out to see if my range of motion would improve (it didn’t) and even now more than 20 years later strength and range of motion haven’t returned fully but it’s not really bad. Significantly the arthritis that the surgeon virtually guaranteed hasn’t arrived yet but I’m sure it will.

  8. I’ve had a screw in my ankle for 14 years. Dr in Canada never mentioned taking it out. I don’t even notice it

  9. I got one of those in my elbow when I busted it. The doctor said that it would probably be best if it were removed eventually, but that it wasn’t actually hurting anything where it was. Being as the surgery to repair my elbow wiped out my bank account at the time, I wasn’t in a rush to have it out.

    That was seventeen years ago, and I keep forgetting it’s in there. I wouldn’t worry if I were you.

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