My niece was hit by a car ?

Question

Her left femur was broken and her pelvis. Surgery is in the morning. How long does this type healing take and what is involved ?The surgeon said they were putting in a rod.

Answer 1

if the only surgery the surgeon talked about was a rod, then he/she was only addressing the femur. putting a rod inside the femur is a relatively common and good procedure nowadays. for the most part, if the fracture is not too comminuted (too many fragmented pieces), she usually can start putting weight on it immediately after surgery. however, walking "nomally" may not happen for 2-3 months (depending on her age and pre-surgery conditioning, and everyone recovers differently).

the pelvis, however, is a different story and has significant different implications depending on which part is broken. there are many parts to the pelvis, some parts like the ramus or the iliac wing where surgery isn't necessary and immediate weight bearing is of no consequence (these parts are not involved in weight bearing), and other parts, especially the acetabulum (the socket part of the hip joint) where a fracture can be devastating if severe enough. so it is exceedingly hard to say if someone just mentions "pelvis" fracture. if the surgeon didn't mention surgery to the pelvis then it can be implied that the fracture is either at the non-weightbearing portion or perhaps the fracture (even to the acetabulum) is non-displaced in which case it can be treated by not putting weight on that side for about 6-8 weeks. but no one really gets a body cast and lie in bed for weeks anymore, it is just not good treatment for anyone.

worst cast scenario is that the fracture is so bad (to the acetabulum or the sacroiliac joint) that this particular surgeon didn't even want to mention it or treat it that he/she is waiting for a subspecialized pelvic surgeon to address it. hope not.
good luck

Answer 2

Pelvis injuries are very difficult and usually they suspend the body in a sling so it will heal or stay a soft bed. This taks 4-6 weeks.
The rod sometimes stays in for 3 months and if really bad they put in a permanent one.
Sorry she has been hurt hope she recovers well.

Answer 3

Any type of break and healing time just depends on how your body responds. This type of injury, which sounds pretty bad if she has a broken pelvis could take a year or more. Just depends on how her body responds to treatment. You don't say her age, but the younger the faster she will heal.

Answer 4

My neice was hit by a car walking in a cross walk when she was 9 years old. She had the same injury. It was terrible. I went to the hospital and stayed with her during her care. She was in the hospital for about 6 weeks. When she was released in my care they had to put her in a body cast from the chest down one leg to the foot and down half of one leg that wasn't broken. She remained in that for another 6-8 weeks. She had to have bone measurements and such done to make sure her legs grew at equal lengths.

When they put on the body cast they leave this area for using the restroom open. I stuffed paper towels in it each time she used the bed pan so she wouldn't soak it with urine and removed them after she finished. She had the cleanest cast the doctors ever removed. I was determined to take good care of her, because it can cause bedsores and very foul smell if it gets contaminated.

Also, I tried to rotate her on pillows to her stomach and such so she could get good circulation. She even laid propped up on pillows and played video games to kill time while laying there. She stayed on my couch as opposed to a room that can be so lonely. I had to stop a lot and care for her, but I didn't mind, I was just thankful she lived through the ordeal.

I am happy to report we both survived this ordeal and she is an adult now with children, no limp and doing fine. At first when she got the cast off she was very weak in the muscles and had to use a walker for short while but she came back nicely.

I'm not sure how old your neice is but I understand what you are dealing with and wish you luck. I'll say a prayer for her too!

Answer 5

The pelvis will take a year,depending on age.
(A teen for example,1 year)

Leg with rod installed 20 weeks,(aprox)

Answer 6

i don't know the details on her injuries but i know that my son's dad had to have a rod put in his leg b/c of a car accident. i am not sure what was involved with getting that done, but i do know that he had to do physical therapy for 8 weeks after the surgery and he was still pretty sore for about 4 months. i hope that helps a little.

Answer 7

This will be a very long healing time due to the extent of the injury, your looking at about a 8 to 9 month healing time and it will be up to a year for it to be compleatly healed. not to mention she will need numoruos months of rehab to regain full strangth within that extremity. not to mention a great possibility of back broblems further down the road

I have seen this surgury done before

Answer 8

those areas usually take up to 1/2 a year
maybe longer with the rod put in

Answer 9

It will probably be 4-6 months before she is able to do much, and another 6-8 months after that before she is doing everything that she was before. It will probably be hard for her and it will be painful. One of the best things you can do is just be there for her, it helped me out a lot when I had people just there for me after I had my 6 surgeries over the past year and a half.

Answer 10

idk