How do you tell if you pulled yhe anchors loose or pulled the sutures out of the repaired tissue?
Posted , 18 users are following.
I was in week 8 post-op of a shoulder surgey that involved an open repair of the labrum, relocation of the biceps tendon from the shoulder to the upper arm and an arthroscopic repair of the rotator cuff tendon. Anchors were placed in the bone of my upper arm to attach the biceps tendon to and an anchor was attached to the top of my shoulder to attach the rotator cuff tendon to. Everything was going fine with PT and I had regained most of my shoulder's mobility when I had a setback. I picked up a bag of what I thought was household trash to place in the trash bin with my repaired arm/shoulder. Unfortunately inside the trash bag were broken pieces of concrete and mortar which I'm guessing weighed about 90 pounds. As I picked up the bag and put it in the trash bin I felt a strain in my shoulder. I didn't hear anything pop and originally thought I may just have stretched things a bit. However the pain gradually increased over the next several days on the top of my shoulder where the rotator cuff was repaired and under my arm where the labrum was repaired. The pain increased to the point of here it was before my surgery and for the next several days I had to go back on pain medication. Although the pain has subsided a bit, I am still experiencing a searing type of pain especially on the top of my shoulder. My doctor said if I didn't hear any thing pop and experienced pain right away that I probably just had a relapse in the healing. I am worried that I possibly pulled out the sutures or worse yet the anchors. Has anyone has had this occur (i.e., lifting a unsafe amount of weight at 8 weeks post op)? If so, did it result in a rupture of the repair? My Doctor took an x-ray and said that the anchors still appeared to be where he placed them but he also said he cannot tell from the x-ray whether or not they could have become dislodged from the bone. He told me to wait a few weeks until the pain has subsided and the flare up has settled down so he can perform an MRI with dye injections. I'm worried that if I did damage the repair areas I am just postponing the inevitable (another surgery).Anyone out there experience anything like this?
1 like, 23 replies
sean6242 bicyclist
Posted
HI Bicyclist. I had a labrum repair with 2 anchors put in. Like you I was at the 8 week mark when I had an incident where I tripped and fell. I felt a sharp pain but did not hear anything pop. The sharp pain subsided within +/- 20 minutes. I was curious if you ever found out what the deal with your anchors was? Did they come out?
Thanks in advance.
chris0042 bicyclist
Posted
I'm currently 4 weeks post surgery for my labrum on the left side of my shoulder. I had an anterior and posterior tear that was repaired. A few days ago I fell at a friends house. I was in the middle of a conversation when I was bumped and accidentally fell forward onto the person i was talking to landing forward with my arm in the sling. Luckily i was wearing my sling as well as the immobilizer. After i fell i felt some pain , but nothing major. It has been three days now since i fell. I'm not in excruciating pain, but my shoulder feels really achy on my trap as well as i have some pressure on my anterior incision sights. my shoulder feels really irritated. What should i do? Dose it sound like i re injured something?
kevari07644 chris0042
Posted
i had shoulder surgery this june 12 it was a bankart capsular its been about 6 weeks ago about a week ago i was standing on my couch trying to get in position but i was about to fall so i jumped off to save my fall i landed on my feet but i notice soon after my shoulder flexed in a wierd way and Everytime i laid back it will make a pop sound it ended up going away in like two days im concerned and worried cant get it out of my head what should I do
neesie466 bicyclist
Edited
Thanks for posting!! It's so nice reading everyon'es experiences...... I am 6 weeks post surgery..complete rotator cuff tear, bursitis, shaving of frayed labrum and bicep tendons as well. At just about 2 weeks I was feeling great!!! So great, that of course I HAD to send a care package to my daughter, and insisted that I could tape it up on my own. I felt some pulling in my tricep area. I was already back at my desk job, too. Two days later I was going out for a walk and sat down to tie my sneakers...and felt a dull pain.Ever since then my rehab has been uncomfortable. Neither my PT or the Dr. seem to think I tore it off the anchor or the stitches, but I'm not so sure why I used to feel so much better. My sling was not very restrictive, and it allowed me to do more than I think I should have. I can get my arm over my head at PT (while lying down) to about 160 degrees. It's far from easy. I am a very active 53 year old female (running, biking, swimming, weights) and this is so miserable.....I never thought the rehab would be so intense......I should have read this forum prior to the surgery to educate myself. Perhaps this is all normal, and it's not "pain", it's more discomfort. I never had ANY pain...never took any pain medication or even a Tylenol, so i just wish this shoulder would hurry up and heal so I could get back to my life!! đ
kevari07644 bicyclist
Posted
i had shoulder surgery this june 12 it was a bankart capsular its been about 6 weeks ago about a week ago i was standing on my couch trying to get in position but i was about to fall so i jumped off to save my fall i landed on my feet but i notice soon after my shoulder flexed in a wierd way and Everytime i laid back it will make a pop sound it ended up going away in like two days im concerned and worried cant get it out of my head what should I do
kevari07644 bicyclist
Posted
i had shoulder surgery this june 12 it was a bankart capsular its been about 6 weeks ago about a week ago i was standing on my couch trying to get in position but i was about to fall so i jumped off to save my fall i landed on my feet but i notice soon after my shoulder flexed in a wierd way and Everytime i laid back it will make a pop sound it ended up going away in like two days im concerned and worried cant get it out of my head what should I do
ian75440 bicyclist
Posted
well i dont know what to say, but explain my story
2006 open arm operation before i got the operation my arm was popping out even by sneezing. so i had a total of 83. yes i kept count as i count every thing. They strapped my shoulder using my tricep. things where good for a while till 18 months later something happen. cant remember what. but i remember the pain. all i felt was rip as if someone was ripping up clothes beside my ear. My doctor at the time said he could not do anything else for me. so he refer me to my next doctor. still loads of time gaps till my next operation but thats how slow things move over here. 3 year waiting list.
2013 key hole operation. i was told that i could not have any MRI's but they sent me for one anyway. noting shot out but the pulsing was very sore. went back a week later, with an answer saying we need to send you to the CT scan as the MRI was blurry. Hummmm i wonder why dumbass. at this stage my arm pop another 6 more times.
so i got the operation. I was given two options get the OP or amputation. they gave me anchors and repaired my ball and socket. up to 2015 i was doing good ish apart from some pain now and then. But i was thinking i have this for the reat of my life. pain is managable. one day I'm making a roof. went to grab some felt and pop and rip. The shoulder did'nt fully come out so i had to help the anchors bring it back in with some PT. well i was in loads of pain. would have prefer if it fully came out. So i went to my local doctor and he put me on a referral list. I'm only hearing word now.
but the pain every day is unbeliveable. im getting cramps in my Neck Shoulder Arm Tricep and Bicep all the way to my Hand and fingers. loss of sensation. cramps going down the same side of my body. leading to my groin leg and feet. yesterday i experienced something new. both hands cramped at the same time. last night both legs cramped at the same time. Both cramps happened in the same places. I'll be keeping this info up to date s i'm still waiting for my OP
Erin130 bicyclist
Posted
I had surgery almost 6 weeks ago for chronic/recurrent dislocations, torn labrum, hill Sachs lesion, compression problem and severe instability and things were going good until yesterday. I was picking up my comforter off of the floor when all of a sudden (my physical therapist had already given me the green light and told me I was now safe to start picking things up) i hear a loud snap, followed by extreme pain and inability to move my arm. It literally felt like the anchor was yanked out of the bone. I called my doctor right away, but he said he doesn't think anything is wrong and to rest my arm and wait until my next appointment, which is in less than a week. I don't understand, though, because it says in my post op instructions that a clear indication that something is wrong is popping, snapping, pain, loss of arm function. It doesn't make any sense. How is my doctor not worried?!?!