left femur shaft fracture
Hi all.... I'm a 24years old male who meet with an accident 5 months back...resulting to a left femoral shaft fracture.Had an operation with metal plate screwed to bone.Attained full ROM in 1 1/2 month after accident. As for physiotherapy, doing my own training at home(with ankle weights for quad leg raises).Have been taking supplements to enhance the recovery(multi-vitamins,calcium carb 450mg with vit D 200iu tab). Have had no pain(only some tolerable pain and discomforts, muscle soreness). Now currently on 5th month, able to put full body weight on injured leg and able to walk with a limp. The problem is, every time i go for appt, the doctors have been telling me that my bone are not joining at all!!! That i'm not believing as i feel that if i'm able to put my body weight, meaning that my bone is able to withstand the weight.Ayte, my questions are, 1.How long is the time period for a femur fracture to heal? (as I've been told by the doctors it takes only 6-8 weeks to heal for a normal healthy male). 2. If there's a possibility that my bones are not joining, what are the options for me to consider?(been told by the doctors that I've to go another surgery, 'Bone Grafting') 3. And What are the reason my bone are not joining?...
Re: left femur shaft fracture
Sorry this is about 4 months too late i can see by your post date - I didn't join the forum until after your post.
Femur fracture times are dependant on where it is in the shaft and what type but generally its 6-8 weeks for union (partial repair which allows movement at fracture side) then 8-12 weeks for consolidation (full repair - no movement at fracture site).
Putting too much weight on and working the bones too hard initially can delay the fracture healing and cause non-union... other common reasons include smoking as this also prevents healing. Sometimes it's a mistery.
Unfortunately as the femur is a primary weight bearing bone you should be following your surgeons advice to help them heal.
For our academic interest could you provide me with the details of what has happened since May? are you now fine? did you require surgery and was it successful.
Thanks