Sternal Wire Removal Dec 1

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MissMelis

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 25, 2008
Messages
342
Location
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Anyone who has had their wires removed - can you tell me how long I can expect to need in terms of recovery? My guess is a few days...a week tops.

It will just be day surgery but I imagine I'll be rather sore from yanking the things out...anyone who has the inside scoop, your thoughts please!

Cheers
Melis
 
I am having them removed because I have been experiencing some nasty allergic reactions, namely a very itchy rash that was localized around my scar. Eventually determined that it was possibly a reaction to the wires. Not sure about this, but the surgeon wants to take them out to be on the safe side...and I'm with her!
 
I paniced at the title of this post! I havent even had the main op yet and my jaw dropped at the thought of having to have another op to take the wire out!
Is this common at all? I hope it goes well for you and isn't too sore!
 
I paniced at the title of this post! I havent even had the main op yet and my jaw dropped at the thought of having to have another op to take the wire out!
Is this common at all? I hope it goes well for you and isn't too sore!

I believe it is ?uncommon? ? I know others have had it done but I think this is the first time I have read about it here since I joined in 2005?.
 
It's not unheard of but is very unusual. A few folks here have had there wires removed but I don't remember specific names. One person hads lingering pain from them, I think.

I never lost the soreness in my chest from my first OHS but four years later I had not and would not have done anything about it. It was tolerable but, particularly with change of weather and rain or snow, I was sore. Now, eight months after my second surgery, I am very much more comfortable. I did tell my surgeon about tyhe lingering soreness/tenderness so maybe he tried closing me differently this time. Whatever it was, it's way better. :)

My memory from hearing about others having the wires removed is that it didn't take very long and wasn't a major big deal. I don't think they were terribly uncomfortable.

Good luck, Melissa. Please let us know how it goes.
 
I had mine removed because one had become displaced and was causing pain and bruising. I went back to work the next day, teaching 1st graders. I took a Vicodin around lunch time, but other than that, was fine.

I originally had been told that I would have local anesthesia because the surgeon was only planning on removing the one wire, but after an x-ray, he saw that two others were also out of whack so I had general anesthesia and he removed them all through a 1 inch incision. The way I understand it, they cut the wire and then it slides right out because the bone doesn't adhere to the metal. I had one wire that the bone had grown over in a weird way, and he left a small piece in my sternum. Because of his desire to leave me with a very small incision (my previous was horizontal and he didn't want to reopen it), and the stretching of the skin required to reach all the wires, I had LOTS of bruising. My entire chest was BLACK for a few weeks, eventually turning into a beautiful green donut!

Good luck! It's a very minor surgery, especially in relation to the other one you had!
 
Melisa
I had all my wires removed many years ago. A weeks time for recovery should be fine. I went home the evening of the procedure. It was done with four thin incisions to remove each of the wires.
Kathleen
 
Anyone who has had their wires removed - can you tell me how long I can expect to need in terms of recovery? My guess is a few days...a week tops.

It will just be day surgery but I imagine I'll be rather sore from yanking the things out...anyone who has the inside scoop, your thoughts please!

Cheers
Melis


Better to get them out as for 16 years iv'e had pain with mine.

I mentioned it to my surgeon and am looking forward to the wire

changes when i have my 2nd surgery,it's not fun my first surgeon could

do a wonderful job of aortic and the zipper scar,but he wasn't great

at my wiring job and iv'e suffered immensley off and on with pain.

All the best and be thinking of you.:)


zipper2 (DEB)
 
For some reason I still think I am the only one here who did not have wire used on them. Rather I had something called Mersilene tape (dacron) to wrap my sternum back together. My surgeon uses it because some people do have allergies and reactions to the wire.

I googled it and found this one article about it. Guessing this is what he used. http://www.atcs.jp/pdf/2004_10_6/362.pdf

Anyone else?

Best wishes for an easier than you think it's gonna be kind of wire removal!

Marguerite
 
For some reason I still think I am the only one here who did not have wire used on them. Rather I had something called Mersilene tape (dacron) to wrap my sternum back together. My surgeon uses it because some people do have allergies and reactions to the wire.

I googled it and found this one article about it. Guessing this is what he used. http://www.atcs.jp/pdf/2004_10_6/362.pdf

Anyone else?

Best wishes for an easier than you think it's gonna be kind of wire removal!

Marguerite

I looked at the article, and at the end it says that an advantage is that you can do an MRI with it as opposed to when you have sternal wires. I have never heard that I cannot have an MRI because I have sternal wires. I thought it was only a pacemaker that precluded people from having an MRI. Someone please enlighten me on this!
 
I looked at the article, and at the end it says that an advantage is that you can do an MRI with it as opposed to when you have sternal wires. I have never heard that I cannot have an MRI because I have sternal wires. I thought it was only a pacemaker that precluded people from having an MRI. Someone please enlighten me on this!

Adrienne,
MRI waves bounce off the wires and make for a very giggly picture. My husband had his left foot totally reconstructed after a traffic accident and they tried to do an MRI on his foot last year and the technician told him that the picture looked like his toes were dancing, so I guess it would look like our chest is dancing around. Stange huh?
 
Thanks everyone for your messages, information and encouragement! I love this forum :)
I will let you all know how it goes.

A note for you, Dan - like you've probably read, this is not unheard of for the wires to be removed, but it's not all that common either. I don't think something you should worry about, I think I'm in the minority here - most people are just fine with their wires!

Thanks again all
 
I looked at the article, and at the end it says that an advantage is that you can do an MRI with it as opposed to when you have sternal wires. I have never heard that I cannot have an MRI because I have sternal wires. I thought it was only a pacemaker that precluded people from having an MRI. Someone please enlighten me on this!

I have had two MRI's since my surgery, so I feel pretty confident saying that the wires don't cause an issue.
 
Here's what AHA says:

"Before the examination, you will be asked to fill out a questionnaire asking you about any implants or surgeries you may have had. Most implants used in heart patients (e.g., sternal wires, stents, occluding devices, coils, most heart valves, etc.) are considered permissible for an MRI examination."
 
I believe I still have the wires from my surgery as a kid... which is something I only found out in recent years. I guess if it HAD been a problem with MRIs I would have found out the hard way!!


A : )
 
I had surgery 8 months ago and one of my wires where it is knotted it poking at my skin just waiting for it to cut. I have 4 more that are starting to poke out and it was suggested to me by my cardiologist that I need to be prepared to have them surgically removed. Trying to find info on what the procedure is after the "mapping" of the wire location. Cardiologist says sternal wires need to be removed quite often. Just one more thing no one told me about before the surgery.
 

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