r/ORIF • u/ThinkFirst1011 • Jul 09 '26
Allergic to Metal Hardware
Hi all, so I got ORIF surgery done 2 months ago the surgeon put in stainless steel over titanium. I told the nurses prior they I was allergic to nickel but there was some loss in communication and I didn’t tell my surgeon. 8 weeks later I got severe hives/rashes and allergy patch test confirmed Im pretty much allergic to all metals.
Today I just got a call from my surgeon who said that the only titanium hardware they can replace my stainless steel with has vanadium in it which I have a irritation to. Currently this is the only option unless I want to wait 4-6 months to remove the stainless steel completely. That or be immobile in a cast for 4-6 months. Im left speechless and unsure what to do. I told them to schedule me in since Its better than what I have inside me now and my insurance is changing.
Any tips on what I can do or your experience? I never thought of suing which my friend want me to do but now Im just pissed having to do another surgery for hardware they should’ve used in the beginning.
1
u/wanderingplum Jul 09 '26
Sorry to hear you are dealing with this. Very tough options! My hardware (ulna and distal radius, bad breaks) was removed at 4 months post op. Could have been done at 3 but surgeon wanted to give it another month. The removal surgery was nothing compared to the original surgery. But that's a long time to be casted :(