ORIF 2 yrs post-op pin pain

I'm am approx 2 year post op (27 May 2007) on my ORIF for a Tib/Fib fracture. I have a rod in the middle of my tibia with 4 connecting devices (screws, pin, and rotating nail I believe). I completed 9 months of physical therapy and have returned to full physical activity with zero pain to include triathlon.

Yesterday, while putting on a sandal I lost my balance and landed on my foot at an angle. There was no immediate pain or noises, but when I started walking and placed my full body weight on the leg I experienced a severe burning sensation on the tip of one of the lower two pins (there are two at the top of the tibia and two at the bottom). The pain was experienced only in the skin.

When I remove all weight the pain disappears completely, I have full range of motion, and there is zero noticeable swelling. Palpation immediately after the incident induced the burning sensation as well, but has ceased to cause burning today.

I used crutches yesterday to keep weight off and have progressed to a cane today, but have not tested full weight bearing as I am staying on the cautious side (I've worked too hard to risk further injury!).

Any ideas as to a cause or any recommended treatment would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there,

The internal 'hardware' inserted into your bones is actually less strong than your bones. The surgeons chose materials that they believe will be strong enough to hold the stresses of the limb before the bone fully heals. If they get this wrong then the component can be taking too much of the force of the bone for too long and can fail prematurely.

In your case it would appear that your bones have healed up fine. It could be that the hardware has eventually failed. This seems like it may be the case because you said it was the site of the pins which are generally small parts and the first to break.

See your dr and get an x-ray of it firstly to make sure you haven't broken the bone and secondly to see if the pins have broken