Ankle surgery gone wrong?

Question

I had ankle surgery, they put a plate on right side with 5 screws, a pin and s***w on right side. Four days after surgery, returned to hospital because of pain so terrible on the top of foot and last three toes. Had an x-ray(I seen it) and seen that there was only 4 screws in plate and the fifth one was in the middle of my foot. When I asked about the s***w that was no longer in the plate, they said the operation had went fine. They also said that the pain was probably because they may have damaged or cut a nerve during operation. (Feeling never came back)I did not persist about the lost s***w.

Nine months later, I noticed a bump in right side of ankle, went to doctor, they said it was the head of a s***w pushing it's way out and that I was lucky it was not turned the other way as it would have already broken the skin. They decided to remove all hardware and I waited a year to have it removed.

My actual question is: Could that s***w that had fallen out have caused the numbness of the top of my foot and last 3 toes? It was obviously floating around my foot for 19 months before I had it removed. Could it have caused other damage? And why didn't they mention it at hospital when I told them I had seen x-ray and there was a s***w missing from plate? It has been 12 years since, and I still have pain and swelling.

i ahve been back a few time in last 12 years for pain and swelling and each time they tell me it is normal for this kind of injury and that the x-ray shows all is fine

Answer 1

Aww that sucks.

The tricky thing is that the ankle is such a compact, complicated little bundle of joints and weightbearing bones that when you go in and start adding things, it can go bad in a hurry.

There is a very good chance that the s***w could have caused the nerve damage, but there is no proof.

There is a good chance that the s***w could have caused your chronic pain, but there is no proof.

There is a good chance that the hospital did see that the s***w was loose, and they chose to leave it in rather than having another surgery that could potentially damage your foot futher, but there is no proof.

Bummer, sorry.

Answer 2

Sometimes we need second opinion. Have you try to find it from another doctor or hospital?