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Broken titanium rod on spine
Comments
Yes there was a recall on the Polaris spinal kit. Talk to your surgeon and find out your serial number. Mine broke and I had revision surgery. These rods are made of two corrosive metals similar to the hip replacement ones. They also had faulty screws which has caused the spine to become unstable therefore increasing the risk of rod failure. There are many law suits pending on this. Call a lawyer. Because it's been proved its a manufacturer defect all you need is your dates of surgery and your serial number
I am 47 years old. I had spinal fusion in 2010 (T3 to S1). I found out in 2014 that one of my rods broke in the lumbar spine. I have a lot of pain. I am no longer able to work due to my pain. My neurosurgeon says the rod is secure for now. I'm not sure what to do. I also have spinal stenosis in my thoracic spine that causes me even more pain. My neurosurgeon gave me two surgical options regarding the stenosis: go in and fix the stenosis ( "clean it up") or fix the stenosis and go a little higher with my fusion to take stress off my T2 and above. I am not sure about having more surgery. I had spinal surgery in 1984 (scoliosis w/ Harrington rods removed in 1986) revision surgery 2010 Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Liz, Spine-health Moderator
I am not a medical professional. I comment on personal experiences
in 1995. I was a lot older than you at the time (33 years old). I was
fine for many years, but a couple of years ago I had felt something
jutting out of my back and went for an X ray. Two screws had broken in
the titanium rods and it took me well over a year to see a specialist.
My surgeon has since retired. I was told they can take out a good
portion of the rods, but would leave the broken part of the screw that
is in my spine there as they would have to make a bigger hole in the
spine to get the screw out that would weaken the area. I'm fine with
that. I was supposed to have surgery in December, 2013, but it was
cancelled and I am waiting for a re-schedule, most likely in February,
2014. I am having extreme pain if I move a certain way. I think the
hardware is touching some nerves. If you haven't done anything yet, I
will keep you posted after my surgery. By the way, they didn't say they
would do any exploratory surgery. They did a CT scan and told me
exactly what they intend to do.