Allergic reaction to sternum wires??

[designlady]

Hello everyone and Happy Labor Day!!!

I have a question so I have come to the panel of experts...my chest is extremely tender and sore (to touch). It hurts to move in certain ways. Went to my GP and he did x-rays. Said everything looked good and stable. He said there did seem to be some swelling around some parts of the wires however. He wrote me a prescription for pain pills (which do help the pain) but they don't solve the problem. The sore areas seem to being getting larger also. Has anyone here heard of an allergic reaction to the sternum wires? Any suggestions or advice appreciated!

Jane

 

[Dina]

Hello everyone and Happy Labor Day!!!

I have a question so I have come to the panel of experts...my chest is extremely tender and sore (to touch). It hurts to move in certain ways. Went to my GP and he did x-rays. Said everything looked good and stable. He said there did seem to be some swelling around some parts of the wires however. He wrote me a prescription for pain pills (which do help the pain) but they don't solve the problem. The sore areas seem to being getting larger also. Has anyone here heard of an allergic reaction to the sternum wires? Any suggestions or advice appreciated!

Jane

Are you speaking of the pacing wires or the wires used to support the
sternum?
I had some trouble with the wound left behind after the pacing wires
were removed. It took some time to heal ,and kept getting inflamed.
But if you mean the other wires (which sounds more likely) , This did
not happen to me but anytime something foreign is put in our body
there could be a reaction.
Hopefully someone else will come along who knows more about this,
sorry I couldn't offer much advice.
Dina

 

[Marguerite53]

gosh, that sounds uncomfortable. Are you sore deep inside? Is that where the pain is? Is that where the swelling is? Or is your incision becoming swollen?

My scar (incision) which is 2 years old is still sore to the touch. My scar did what is called....hypertrophy. Often that is called keloid, though honestly, mine is not as serious as a true keloid. But that happened after about 6 months post surgery. Sorry, didn't see when your surgery was.

As far as the sternum wires go, I actually have Dacron thread. My surgeon said he used the dacron because he had had experience with people being sensitive to the wires and experience with the wires causing infection. So I guess I think you are very wise to keep your surgeon involved at this point. You might want to be checking for low grade fever, too (which of course, won't show up if the pain killers have fever reducing capability).

Many times we have to go on our instincts. If you continue to suspect that things are not right, then be persistent with your surgeon about making it right. Don't by shy, okay?

Chances are things are just irritated and you will be fine in time. But be careful with yourself.

Best wishes.

Marguerite

 

[ponygirlmom]

Hello everyone and Happy Labor Day!!!

I have a question so I have come to the panel of experts...my chest is extremely tender and sore (to touch). It hurts to move in certain ways. Went to my GP and he did x-rays. Said everything looked good and stable. He said there did seem to be some swelling around some parts of the wires however. He wrote me a prescription for pain pills (which do help the pain) but they don't solve the problem. The sore areas seem to being getting larger also. Has anyone here heard of an allergic reaction to the sternum wires? Any suggestions or advice appreciated!

Jane

My chiropractor says that he can't believe the number of badly-bent and outright "poking out" wires that he sees in xrays. (He said MY surgeon did a great job, thank goodness!)

Have you seen one of your chest xrays? Yes, I know the GP said everything is okay. That's the same guy who is giving your "pain pills" -- not even an anti-inflammatory -- for swelling around your wires!

And yes, as someone who is allergic to EVERYTHING, I can believe that someone would react to the wires. As someone else said, sternum wires can be removed.

 

[hensylee]

you need to go back and tell them how sore you are. Don't wait for it to worsen.

 

[Dawn-Marie]

Hi Jane ~

I'm no expert about this at all. Just wanted to say "Happy Labor Day" to you too and i hope you get a solution to this and feel better soon!! ****Hugs****, Your Friend, Dawn-Marie

 

[jds]

There have been some reported occurances of titanium sensitivity

There have been some reported occurances of titanium sensitivity

There seem to be cases of sensitivity to lots of metals. Nickel is a (relatively) common one that interferes with stent-implanted "umbrellas" for septal defects.

I think sternum wires are usually titanium. Mine are. You might check about yours. I found a few web references to titanium sensitivity. One was http://www.jbjs.org.uk/cgi/reprint/73-B/1/25.pdf

Ask your doctor to check this. It is pretty easy to do a contact sensitivity test for a specific substance.

Good luck.

John

 

[designlady]

Thanks to you all!

Thanks to you all!

Thanks for all the helpful comments you guys! I knew I could count on you! John thanks so much for the link to that website! The people on VR.com are great!

Jane

 

[Lisa in Katy]

Sternal wires can be stainless steel or titanium. Do a google search and you will get several hits for sternal wire allergy. I think an allergy to stainless steel is more common than an allergy to titanium. My wires didn't cause an allergy and didn't break, but as the bone and muscles healed, the wires were displaced, causing pain and bruising. I had them removed and all is well.

 

[Marguerite53]

I feel SO alone with my Dacron thread closure!!!

So I started googling and came up with a somewhat (for me) interesting article.... http://www.atcs.jp/pdf/2004_10_6/362.pdf

I guess I wonder what sternal dehiscence is. And I wonder what mediastinitis is. Late. Can't wiki it. Perhaps some kind of discomfort or problem from wires?? Just thought I'd throw it out for now. I'll come back in the morning and look these up.

Guess I'm "wired" up with something called Marselene

Bye M.

 

[Dina]

I feel SO alone with my Dacron thread closure!!!

So I started googling and came up with a somewhat (for me) interesting article.... http://www.atcs.jp/pdf/2004_10_6/362.pdf

I guess I wonder what sternal dehiscence is. And I wonder what mediastinitis is. Late. Can't wiki it. Perhaps some kind of discomfort or problem from wires?? Just thought I'd throw it out for now. I'll come back in the morning and look these up.

Guess I'm "wired" up with something called Marselene

Bye M.

You should feel lucky , I think I'd rather have thread than wire.
I didn't even know you could get wire instead.

Dehiscence usually refers to when a suture or wound splits
open after surgery and is sometimes caused by pressure,heavy-
lifting, infection ,and obesity.This occurs mostly with abdominal
surgeries.
So I guess sternal dehiscence could be when the sternum seperates
post op in spite of the suturing( I suppose)
The mediastinum is the mid section of the thoracic cavity and anything
ending in "itis" is usually inflammation , so , I guess mediastinitis is an
inflammation of the sternal or midline area. And of course inflammation
could be due to allergy, infection ,etc,etc
Post op I was so worried about dehiscence of the surgical wound...that I
wore my bras so tight that I could barely breathe My surgeon
would laugh at me , allowing me to laugh at me
Dina

 

[Marguerite53]

You should feel lucky , I think I'd rather have thread than wire.
Post op I was so worried about dehiscence of the surgical wound...that I
wore my bras so tight that I could barely breathe
Dina

Well, Dina.. I felt wrapped up so tight that I couldn't wear tight bras and just wore cami's for awhile. As a result, the weight of my breasts (and unfortunately that is considerable for me in my overweight stage of life) pulled on the skin and my guess is that that is why my scar hypertrophied so badly; from all the pulling on the skin. How's your scar?

Thanks for saving me the time to google those terms. I guess the Dacron tape is called Mersilene tape. So I guess I can just brag about being "scotch taped" up!!

And just to be clear...I am talking about taping up the two pieces of bone, sternum, which were cut through by the (I looked it up on my bill) $143 saw blade. As for suturing up the wound, my guy used glue. I've also read that glued patients tend to hypertrophy more but I forgot to bookmark that article so I suspect it's most likely just my nature to keloid in that area.

Early in recovery, I stupidly reached out to close a stubborn window, and felt a pop. Everything healed up perfectly, but now, when I stretch, and the sternum does its normal confused crack, it's always at that place. Kind of a friendly reminder to me that I'm living and breathing so I don't mind it at all.

Marguerite