Opening Shock - Impact on broken bones?

[RedBaron 0]

I searched this topic, but didn't find the answer I was looking for - so here's my direct question (medical professionals please feel free to give your needed opinions).

I recently broke my right Femur. The break occurred about 4 inches below the ball joint / pelvis connection, and has been surgically repaired with a rod / screw fixture system. The surgery took place 2 weeks ago.

Here are my key questions...

1) What time frame have you experienced as reasonable before skydiving "normally" with full range of motion / strength following this sort of injury?

2) What was / or is likely to be - the opening shock impact on the broken femur? Because my break in the femur is very close to where my leg strap attaches to my leg - what should I expect relative to opening shock? Would it be strong enough to cause further damage, or aggravate the damage already done?

3) What is the likely healing time needed to keep from suffering any further damage?

I've been told by my doctor that 3 months is the target date for "walking normally" again, and that a full year should pass before any serious strenuous use. I think these estimates are very conservative, and include a large pool of patients... I believe walking in 4 - 6 weeks (it's already been 2 as I noted above), and jumping again in 4 - 6 months should be easily attainable.

What are your thoughts? If you've suffered a femur fracture in the past, and have experience with the re-entry and opening shock impact, or if you are a medical professional...please reply and give me your input.

Thanks in advance for any information you can offer.

Red Baron
www.kneeriders.com

[butlerhr 0]

I broke my left femur 11 years ago (at age 44) very close to the place yours is broken, and it was repaired the same way. I spent 6.5 months out of skydiving (but only 3months out of motorcycle riding). My orthopod was a sports minded fellow and he watched the healing progress on the x-rays, and when he was satisfied, he gave the ok to jump. It took almost 9 months before it was not really an issue. Opening shock has never been an issue for me and the broken femur. But then, I have always had new design, slow opening canopies. If your orthopod was nice enough to use a titanium rod, it won't even set off the metal detectors at the airports and other places. Best way to minimize the down time is to do the PT (yes the therapists are sadists) and try not to limp so you don't have to unlearn a bad habit. Good Luck and keep the shiny side up on the scooter.

[winsor 186]

In general, after formation and calcification of the callus at the break a long bone is at least as strong as it was before breaking. Prior to full calcification, the site of the break is significantly weaker.

With the addition of a permanent fixation device (a rod or plate) the issue becomes somewhat murky. On the one hand, the fixation device can function in lieu of bone healing. On the other hand, the fixation device is subject to bending instead of breaking, and can be no fun at all for either the patient or the orthopedic surgeon.

I was the first on the scene some years back when a jumper landed near me after having his femur broken by a hard opening. As it turns out, he had broken it four months earlier during a swoop landing that almost worked as planned. He wanted to have a plate installed so he could come back out and continue jumping....

Another guy I know had a broken femur from a slightly misjudged landing, and it never healed properly. He had a fixation device installed to keep the two parts of the bone proximal, and jumped the softest-opening easiest-landing canopies he could find. His swoop career was over, as well.

My suggestion is that you ensure that the x-rays show the bone is nicely healed before you test how hard of an opening it takes to compromise the break.

If your orthopedic surgeon says it's too soon to jump, it likely is.


Blue skies,

Winsor

[wmw999 2,122]

One thing you should do is see how sports-minded your doctor is. Because one who can understand what you're doing is going to give you advice that's tailored to your life.

That doesn't mean the orthopod has to be a skydiver. But if they deal with a decent number of athletes -- and if you are hard-core about PT, you're more likely to be honest with your doctor, and your doctor will have a better idea that matches you.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[skyhpp 0]

Here’s my recent experience for what it’s worth – I broke my left femur in the same place as yours, and the surgeon installed a steel plate on the outside of the bone. I used crutches for five weeks and gradually placed more weight on the leg without being stupid about it. I felt I was making good progress and was looking forward to getting rid of the crutches – at that stage I had not tried running or anything more strenuous than going up and down stairs using crutches, and I had no major pain.

One day all hell broke loose when I sat down at the office – excruciating pain – I thought I had snapped a hamstring. Turns out that the 4mm thick steel plate had BROKEN, and that it had been under repeated stress, resulting in “metal fatigue”. End result – another operation to remove the plate, and to install a pin down the centre of the femur (apparently a much stronger solution).

I then had to wait a year before the pin was removed – I was quite active in that time, eventually running up to 10km and going to gym – I knew I was strong enough to jump again, but decided against it when I was warned that in the event of another break on the same bone whilst the pin was still in, the results would be catastrophic (inflexible steel next to a bone results in a shattered bone). After the pin was removed I resumed jumping with no ill effects.

Regular check-up X-rays showed that some of the steel screws fixed to the pin broke - I felt no pain or discomfort, but it demonstrated just how much force is applied to a large bone such as a femur.

My (conservative) choice was to opt for a full recovery and to wait it out before jumping again – frustrating while you are going through it, but a small price to pay compared to the possibly life-long consequences of another severe break.

Good luck with your recovery

[kelpdiver 2]

Who's the surgeon? Mine focuses on sports and I developed a trust that his advice was inline with my interests, not just conservative for the sake of being so. I think he was always more concerned with the motorcycle rather than skydiving.

I then randomly picked the PT clinic nearest to my home in SF and found later it had a reputation for being one of the most aggressive in the pace of recovery. Terrible for some people, but worked well for me.

[Tonto 1]

Your doc sounds about spot on.

I pretty much destroyed my femur apart from 3 inches on each end. I had a 12 inch plate put down the side, and 14 screws holding all the bits together while it healed.

I was COMPLETLY non load bearing for 4 months, but started jumping after 6 weeks. Even at 24 years old I realised how stupid that was and so only did 20 jumps over the next 8 months. Then, due to the "murkyness" mentioned in a previous post, I had another op to have the plate and screws removed, and had to wait a further 6 weeks for the bone density to develop where the weight was formerly transfered through the plate.

I never regained full strength in the leg. There was a LOT of muscle damage from all the sharp bits of bone cutting their way through stuff.
It did get strong enough to summit Kilimanjaro and lead a perfectly normal life but put an end to my days as a competitive cyclist.

I've done 5147 injury free dives in the 20 years since then. Work your ASS off in physio, and eat healthy. Swim miles, not lengths. The sky is going nowhere.

t

It's the year of the Pig.