2nd surgery to go in and clear out stitches? (6 months) Help!!!!
Hi all,
Since I had the surgery done, there was a small scabbed over wound that never closed. Eventually another cyst popped out, and eventually spit out some stitches. I thought that would help, and have been on numerous anti-biotics, but my ortho thinks that my body is allergic to all the stitches and that he needs to go in and take them all out.
I am seeing a wound specialist tomorrow to see if he has any idea, but also looking for any advice on this site.
Is there any way out of this nightmare? I really do not want him to go in again.
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I am sorry to hear your trials are still not over yet….
But I hope the removal of the stitches will not disturb the tendon much (that should be healed by now) and your wound will close fast afterwords.
Matt,
Look at it this way - at least he’s not going in to redo the surgery on the Achilles! At this point, it’s been so long, and you have other issues “popping” up that it really might be best to just have them redo the wound, you know? Like 2ndtimer wrote, this time, your wound would likely close fast and normal.
Your wound specialist (and they are pretty amazing) may have a totally different take and make a suggestion that does the trick without surgery, too. Whichever way you go, you’ll be better for it to get it resolved sooner rather than later.
Tamar
Matt, sorry to hear about what you’re going through. “Allergic” is not really the right term, but I’m not surprised to hear that your surgeon put it to you that way. The suture that is most commonly implicated is called vicryl (long i, short y, accent on vi). It is an absorbable (dissolving) suture that is usually used to close deeper layers. I am an anesthesiologist and have taken care of people who have had these sutures pop up years after their surgeries. Personally, when I had some skin cancers taken off of my face, I “spit” all of mine. Fortunately, the deeper layers had already healed, so I don’t have strange-looking scars. Unfortunately, I forgot to tell my achilles surgeon this, and he used them, so I am just waiting for mine to start popping up. One thing that the wound specialist may tell you is that they might be able to be taken out with just local anesthesia (which is what my dermatologist did for my face). Good luck, Ron
Hi Matt –
I’ve been reading your posts and was meaning to respond earlier. I was in your shoes in May after my wound would not close and painful lesions kept popping up along my sutured areas. I developed several infections which required very aggressive antibiotics, including a 2-month intravenous treatment.
It may or may not have been an allergy, but it was certainly a reaction to ETHILON, the nylon suture that was used on me. My Infectious Disease specialist said that bacteria likes to lodge between artificial material and that such material does not have the natural antibodies to fight them. As a result the tissue surrounding it gets infected, irritated and delays tendon recovery. The antibiotics can work during their rounds, but unless the cause of the infection (the sutures) are removed, it can be a constant battle.
My second surgery to remove my sutures happened almost 6 months after my first procedure. My second opinion surgeon agreed with my original surgeon’s recommendation for a debridement and also said that a 6-month window is usually when doctors go in a second time. This way, some tendon has already healed and enough time has been given to exhaust the chance of another surgery.
I imagine this is where you may be at. I, too, was very reluctant to go in again — full anesthesia, splints, casts, and the whole nine yards, but I did so, since I wanted to be healed.
My operation was in late May and it has made all the difference. I recovered much more quickly that I could travel in June. I have since been in PT and have resumed my physical activities that I am surprising myself. My PT said that I am among her strongest ankle patients — not bad for someone who has seriously deteriorated tendons,
You can read about my adventure at achillesblog.com/booklady to see that my ordeal with the infections left me little but to choose this second procedure.
Best wishes to you as you meet your specialist tomorrow.
~booklady
Thank you everyone for your feedback and support. I have follow up surgery with my wound specialist on Thursday which is promised to be less intrusive, etc. than the initial one. I still wish it was not necessary but with the various infections, and the tunnel connection the two scabs, all my doctors seem to agree this is the way to go. Hopefully I will only be in a cast for about 1 week as opposed to 4, but I guess we will see. For the record, what an expensive freaking injury this has turned out to be. co-pays, meds, mris, etc. ugh!