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Just wondering if any one out there has broke there leg and had the external fixture,the one with all the screws going in the bone from the outside of the leg.My good doctor wants to remove mine in his office in a few months with me awake.Has anyone had one removed this way,just wondering about the pain,he saids he will use a drill and its not too bad.this dont sound right.

The anticipation is worse than the event itself, but its quite normal for this to be done wide awake.If they are smooth thin rods then they just pull them really quickly using grips or pliers, if its long screws then its just a few turns with a wrench.

However, local anasthetic and some sedatives go a long way!

i am on a lot of pain killers that dont work really well unless you drink a little beer with them.these are the same he wants me to take them come in,(he saids take three,hell i have been taking four when it really cranks up) they are long screws.he will use a drill to back them out.i really dont want to go in the OR again if its really not that bad.but i dont want to have him pull one out and I piss on myself and still have three more to go.thanks for the reply.

The pain you are feeling at the moment will get less and less to the point you will not have to use pain killers from day to day. Just keep the pin sites clean, and keep a positive mind. The worst pain I had was when I got home from Hospital and my Dogs tried to fight with the frame on my leg.

The pins are out in a few months , dont worry about it now.

You're a far braver man than I. I pitched a fit, when they pulled all my staples out.

I had internal screws removed, with a drill and handheld screwdriver at times, from my leg, while awake but with a couple shots in the area. felt very strange feeling the torque through my leg, but no pain.

thanks for all the replys,this is my second ficture ,this one dont hurt like the first one but it cranks up from time to time.the bone shadder down to the ankle and i have a lot of screws that hurt all the time.the bone came out the top of my leg and i lost about a inch thats growing back,there is no pain there now.when the infection was in there it cranked all the time.i am going to let them drill them out,my worst was them pulling my leg sliding the bone back in and turning the leg back to face the front.after that it all when black,that was the best of it all when you sleep,no pain thanks again and Happy New Year to all.

Story time:

Broken ankle with jaw wired shut. so basicly, if i puked i die. apparently puking is a occasional reaction to full sedation, so they opted to keep me awake. started out with a stab of ketamine, then they gave me a spinal tap thing, so i went numb below the belly button (yeap, EVERYTHING below the belly button) and was awake and aware the entire surgery.

I imagine you'll get something similar for the un-screwing. worked great for me. good luck.

Word on the streets in TF, is that you're still numb below the bellybutton.

I had two seperate fixators in tibia for 5 months. I had them removed in the office on my orthopedic surgeon. It was painful, but not like you think. I think I have a normal pain tolerance, but maybe not.
It does not hurt bad enough to want to go under. you should get it done in the office.

and it is funny, it literally is a battery powered drill he hooks up to the screws and sets it to 'unscrew'. hope he does not fuck that up.

I'm going to go under on Wednesday to get the internal hardware taken off my fibula. Good luck with your recovery, the pain will subside in time and you won't need any drugs in a while.

I had internal rod with two screws. One screw, in my hip, was removed with just local anestesia. The skin/tissue was numb, but they couldn't numb the bone. It hurt like hell as soon as the screw started turning in the bone. awful pain for a minute or two, when it was out of course the pain subsided. I actually prefer that kind of pain to the nausea of general anestesia. A couple years later, they couldn't get the other screw out with just local, so had to do general. Then I had general anestesia again to take the rod out 6 weeks ago, and finally my leg pain is gone. hip is still a little sore from where they went in...

So... suck it up, it's better than being put to sleep.

I have had numerous staples, even took some
of them out myself, but the worst was when
we had to dig around in my skin graft site
to find one lost staple - that hurt.

As for hardware removal, my titatium rod and
little collection of screws and wires were all the
internal kind, so thank God I out like light when
that gear was removed.

Must be my system but I have never had any
problems with general anesthesia. However,
I got really greasy and itchy on morphine.

Plowed into a big pile of those massive spools that they keep guy wires rolled up on (was jumping in the fog). I only had 4 external pins in the bottoms of my feet, but I howled like a banshee in the office when they were removed as 2 of them were quite stubborn. My pain tolerence is for shit though. Best of luck bro!

Do you know the effective substance in your pain killer and your dosage?
How heavy you are?

maybe you are under served/under dosaged/wrong substance class of pain killer. This can result in a over stimulated center of pain, in your brain and at least in chronic pain.

....speak with your doc!