non-healing fractures

[Guest]

I own the site warfarinfo.com. The parents of a 14 year old boy with two valves wrote to me asking for information that neither of us can locate. The boy broke both bones in his forearm 9 weeks ago. There is now no evidence of healing. Has anyone had a similar experience? DuPont could only give them a "maybe" answer as to whether or not it was warfarin related. Most of the information on Medline is about osteoporosis. So we need your help.

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Sorry to hear....keep us posted.

There is someone that posts here that recently broke a bone. Johnathan from England. Maybe he can shed some light on the subject?

 

[Nancy]

Very sorry to hear about that young man.

Just a thought. I don't have any medical info. on the subject, only common sense.

Everyone who has a mechanical heart valve is on Coumadin. The vast majority have had their sternum sawed through and then wired shut afterward. The only ones who haven't had this done have had it done through the rib area, minimally invasively.

The sternum is essentially then a broken bone which subsequently heals.

Assuming that there isn't any bone or wound infection, has anyone heard of the sternum not healing up?

Nancy

 

[Guest]

Nancy, I sent your common sense idea on to the family.
AL

 

[arya]

Seven years later, I thought I'd point out that Coumadin isn't supposed to have a negative effect on bones in the first year (well after the sternum has healed).

 

[Ross]

Al since this got bumped up, what have you learned about this since?

To me, it looks like old school thinking that limiting a persons vit K intake may well have played a part in this. I'm reading all sorts of things about elderly patients, but not young, and we know the elderly have bone density lessening as we age.

Just interested in what you know now on today's educational standard.

 

[Guest]

There was an article published earlier this year implicating both warfarin and heparin in non - fractures. Here is the reference if anyone cares to look it up.
Lindner T et al. The effect of anticoagulant pharmacotherapy on fracture healing. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2008 May;9(7):1169-87.