Torn bicep tendon near elbow

My husband tore his right bicep tendon last Saturday. We have called over 25 different surgeons in NJ and most don't take Aetna HMO insurance or they don't have any appointments available. My family DR talked to a Surgeon and the surgeon agreed to see my husband on FRi.. The Surgeon did not take any xrays and did not put out paperwork to get an approval for an MRI with Aetna. He said he will let us know in a few days if he can do the surgery this week coming starting the 23rd or next week. I am very worried about the fact the Surgeon didn't take any xray or request an MRI before surgery. Is this common practice? I have been told the surgery should be done within 2 weeks for a full recovery but it doesn't seem like this will happen. My husband is in pain but he can move his arm around. We are very fustrated and confused about what to do. My husband is 35 and I want to know if people usually recover fully from this surgery and how long.

Hi Jelsis

I am not an authority on orthopedic surgeries, however I would like to reply to your post as I see some of your concerns and frustration.

Typically X-rays do not show much soft tissue damage (if any). The only thing an X-ray would pick up in this situation is an avulsion fracture, which is when the bicep tore did it take a piece of bone along with it. An MRI is the imaging tool of choice to show soft tissue damage. In this situation it would give more information regarding the size of the tear, location of the tear and so on. In my opinion the imaging is not needed to diagnosis the bicep tear, as it is a very obvious dysfunction, however it may give the surgeon more information in preparation for the surgery.

I can also see you have some concerns regarding the length of time from the date of injury to the surgical date. I do not feel that it is a big obstacle so long as your husband keeps moving that arm. I would not recommend him relying on a sling 24/7. I would recommend gentle range of motion exercises so that scar tissue proliferation does not become an issue limiting mobility down the road. It might also not be a bad idea for your husband to see a PhysioTherapist before the surgery in order to keep things moving and balanced.

The good news is that this is a fairly 'routine' surgery and people usually recover very well and regain virtually 100% of the extremity function.

Thanks for the info.. My husband has been moving his arm every day and I am glad to hear that that is Ok to do. I will definately take your advice and start searching my area for a physio. Thanks again.