Bone Graft

[Kev8261]

I know it's a bit of a grim subject for us bikers, but, my nephew recently in his words 'had a mad moment' on his scooter. Sadly he didn't get away with it and hit a car, I think a kind of glancing blow.

Anyway, he's had the leg pinned and had that sort of cage put round it, but now they're talking about doing a bone graft. Sounds pretty serious to me, anyone had any experience with this procedure, I haven't said anything to my sister in law, but I've heard about guys having this done, and it's almost last chance for the leg, is there any truth in that?

[limax2]

Sorry to hear about your nephew. I'm not a medical expert and the following is just what I gleaned after I had an accident that involved a frame and a bone graft.
I'm guessing the cage you mention is an Ilizarov frame, (a series of metal rings holding wires which pass through the bone and hold things in place while they heal), or similar. The biggest problem with these is the risk of infection, but this is usually kept in check by antibiotic. The frame does a good job but it is a great feeling when you finally get rid of it. In my case it was after four and a half months but it can be much longer depending on the bone healing time.
With the bone graft they usually take bits of bone that you can be spare from somewhere else on your body. In my case the sticking out bony bit on the side of my hip which I think is the normal place to harvest it from. Bone from your own body is best as it is less likely to be rejected. After a bone graft there is a tense period of several weeks hoping it all starts to knit together and form fresh bone. It usually does, but if not they can have another go. Being a non smoker will help.
In my case the bone graft was on the femur and they only did that after the lower part of the leg had healed and the Ilizarov frame removed.
My experience is from eight years ago and no doubt things have moved on a bit since then. There were guys and galls in hospital who, like me, thought it was last chance saloon, but as far as I know they all made reasonable recoveries thanks to the skill of all concerned.
Good luck to the nephew.
 

[Kev8261]

Thanks limax, that' sounds better, maybe not as bad as I thought, particularly as I seem to have copped some of the blame.... ''If you hadn't encouraged him....'' etc

[snooky]

I had a bone graft after my leg wasn't healing following a crash, bone was taken from the crown of my hip and to be honest was the worst part of all the surgery I had, but in time it worked and leg is fine now. That was 15 odd years ago and all good now, like Limax said, your own bone is the best and a bit tense waiting for the result, but seems most of these work so shouldn't need to worry too much.

[mickdel]

A mate had it done, and the only problem he said he had with it was the pain of taking some bone from his hip.   He was also told to stop smoking, as that seriously hampers the healing process.