Intramedular nail removal

Hi guys, i did LON before and after 5 year my one of my legs still does not completely heal. my Dr told me to remove one leg first and wait till the time come get the other removed. I just don’t really want to go under anesthesia twice( not to mentIon the cost and time off from work gonna be double)   but it has been 5 years, and the chance of getting them out is lessl likely if i keep waiting .
I am looking for more advice here. What really gonna happen if the intramedullar nails stay in my tibias for the rest of my life ? 

omg 5 years! Did you do any bone grafting of any kind to help with the bone healing?

A trauma nail can stay inside your body for a long time, but you need to get it replaced every couple of years (depending on weight, nail size and activity level) because the metal will fatigue and break. And from that, many complications, thus better to get a new nail and bone graft on the side with weaker bone healing.

Ideally they should be removed at some point.

But are you saying that your tibia hasnt fully consolidated in 5 years?

Yeah on my left leg.

I have not done any bone graft yet. My bone consolidation was kind of slow but they werr progressing. Did ultrasound sound therapy, but did not expect that my left leg has fully consolidated after 5 years. So i am kind of overwhelmed and don’t know what to do at the moment.

nail exchange, bone graft, and stem cells on the left leg

Thank you ! Stemcell and bone graft we can go to any orthopedic doctor ?

wait—you mean you've had an external fixator for five years? Do you still have the external fixator or just the intramedullary pin? What about when the doctor says "take one out first"

Quote from: cheddar on July 04, 2025, 07:11:44 AMwait—you mean you've had an external fixator for five years? Do you still have the external fixator or just the intramedullary pin? What about when the doctor says "take one out first"

Just the intramedullary pin. My left leg is not fully consolidated yet, so the doctor told me to remove the nail on right leg first and then left leg later when it is ready. It sounds easy to them but i don’t want to go under anesthesia twice , pay twice the price and go through the recovery twice. He is really nice and respectable but i think because of the language barrier he barely have answers for my issues. All he say is just wait, but than said that if i wait too long i might wont be able to get the nails out. So i have to come here and ask if anyone have the same issue and what are their solutions

Yeah...if you wait too long the bone can wrap around the nails and makes it difficult to take out. I think you should visit a few doctors and ask. Each doctor will use their experience to guess a solution. There may be many solutions, all may be correct, but it also depends on what is best for you (cost, time, etc)

I think you will do bone grafting on the left leg, but I don't think you can remove nail when there's non union.
So you have 2 options:

• Remove the right nail in the same operation as bone grafting?
• Wait until the left leg grows union then take out both leg together?