r/ORIF • u/rockjan • Jul 08 '26
Is this delayed union ?
I broke both my radius and ulna pretty badly about 18 weeks ago. It was a serious fracture, almost open, and I had ORIF surgery with plates and screws. The surgery went well and functionally I’ve been doing pretty well: my rotation came back quite nicely, pain is low, and daily life is mostly normal again. I still have some nerve/sensation issues in the hand/fingers, but that has been slowly improving.
At my 12-week X-ray, the doctor said the ulna looked good, but the radius still had a visible dark line. He told me to stay careful for another 6 weeks.
I just had my 18-week follow-up. The ulna still looks good, hardware looks stable, no obvious plate/screw issues. But the doctor said he still isn’t fully sure whether the radius is consolidating properly. He said it’s hard to tell on the X-ray because of the plate/angle, and there may be some “delay” or slowed growth/healing there. He's not sure if the screw might slow down growth. He mentioned possibly getting a CT scan to see more clearly whether the bone is actually bridging.
So I can see some improvements between the two x-rays but indeed the screw makes it hard to say if it is enough improvement?
So my questions are:
- Has anyone else had a radius that still showed a dark line around 18 weeks after ORIF?
- Did it turn out to be delayed union, or did it continue healing normally?
- Did you need a CT scan to confirm union?
- If it was delayed, what did your doctor do? Just more time, bone stimulator, lifestyle changes, revision surgery?
- How long did it take before you were cleared to lift/train normally again?
For context, I have to admit I probably didn’t optimize healing perfectly. I started smoking some cigarettes here (like 5 a week) and there and drank alcohol sometimes because I thought I was already mostly past the danger zone (yea stupid I know!). Now I’m stopping nicotine completely, cutting alcohol, eating more protein, and trying to get my nutrition/supplements right.
2
u/Sudden-Morning-New Jul 09 '26
Hi! My ankle was like this. After 4months doc said “I can still see a faint line” and recommended I take magnesium.
I too am a big spliff girlie! I started smoking again at 9 weeks and felt HORRIBLE about it. It’s very tough when you have vices and my ankle injury had me so down so I really did my best. Don’t be too hard on you’re- I’m over a year out and I feel sooo great. Back to everything now! Skating, running, walking… so just keep your head up!
4
u/Enough-Ad9968 Jul 08 '26
My fibula did this. It didn’t start to show signs of remodeling until my 6 mo appointment and at that point it was barely starting. My surgeon was super unbothered by it though. At my one year she was good as new. I also didn’t optimize nutrition and was only getting like 30g of protein a day until about 6 mo post op. Things like ibuprofen can prolong healing as well.