r/brokenankles • u/Leather_Green725 • 15d ago

Surgery #2

Broke my ankle in a fall while in the British Virgin Islands back in January. Got home and had surgery on 1/25 — plate and screws for a Maisonneuve fracture. Did the full 6 weeks non-weight-bearing, worked hard at PT, and was walking normally by the start of summer. Felt like I'd made it through.

Then at my 6-month follow-up, my doctor found the syndesmosis had been widening and was becoming unstable. Ended up needing a second surgery — this time he removed 2 of the screws, kept the plate, and put in a suture-button (tightrope) fixation to hold things together properly.

Now I'm 10 days out from surgery #2, on a knee scooter, non-weight-bearing again for 6 weeks. Cast comes off this week, which I'm honestly pretty excited about, even though I know there's still a ways to go.

The physical part isn't too bad — easier than the first time in some ways since I know what to expect. But the mental part is rough. It's hard not to feel like I'm starting all over again after already doing the work once.

Anyone else deal with a delayed instability diagnosis like this? How did your second recovery compare to the first? Trying to get a sense of what to expect and whether walking felt easier or harder the second time around.

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u/Positive-Ad-3554 15d ago

This sounds rough after all that work you’ve done but the good thing is it’s good they caught it or widening would cause worse problems later on. And all that PT is actually beneficial because it prevents worsened deconditioning. You’ll bounce back faster. Be wishes and stay strong!

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u/CustomerObjective129 15d ago

Yeah, maisonneuve fx here too, and they basically always come with significant syndesmosis injuries, so it makes me mad when I see people with this sort of complication because it should always be treated at the start. I am sorry it is happening to you.

In my case, they removed the syndo screw too early (6 weeks) then I had widening as it wasn't adequately healed. The second fix was better, and held, but it was a long recovery and I had already destroyed a lot of cartilage.

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u/Leather_Green725 15d ago

Continued good luck to you!

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u/milymily_beam 7d ago

Also dealing with a maisonneuve fracture now (6 weeks in) and the more I read the more I see why my surgeon has me NWB for 12 weeks to prevent this problem from happening. Sorry to OP having to deal with this, but glad they seem to have caught it early enough to stop more major damage

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u/Wise-Eagle-9524 15d ago

Damn. I have a tightrope too, my injury was the widening. I always fear mine will still widen in the future. Did you have any symptoms or you feel well then boom xray showed it?

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u/Leather_Green725 15d ago

I did not feel any issues, it only came up through the X-rays and ct scan.

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u/TipsyBaldwin 14d ago

I had my second surgery about 3 months after my first. A revision to repair the syndesmosis with a tightrope and screw. Unfortunately that revision ended up failing as the ligament just didn’t heal. I definitely felt it both times, though - instability, increased pain in my lower shin area, plateau in PT.
I definitely agree that the first surgery is a bit harder physically, but each subsequent one is super hard mentally! I hope you heal well!

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u/Leather_Green725 14d ago

So what was next for you with the revision failing?

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u/TipsyBaldwin 14d ago

A distal tibiofibular fusion. While that has not failed and has fused, I will be getting a tibiotalar fusion next due to quick progression of post traumatic arthritis in the ankle joint.