maxillary plate/screw removal

May 20, 2004

hi all-

i am 1 year out from a lefort I (3 piece) and need to get my

hardware removed due to pain and recurrent infection. my oral

surgeon views this as a ridiculously simply 15 minute procedure

which he has been insistent upon perfoming in his office under IV

sedation. i am a medical student and have seen many procedures

performed under IV sedation, including wisdom tooth extraction, and

think that having this done would be a huge mistake. personally, i

dont give a S&&& how much versed they give me, its not the memory

that im worried about, its the 15 minutes of fame im going to have

in that chair. long story short i am arm wrestling him to take me

to day surgery to have this done under general anesthesia. have any

of you had your hardware removed? how painful was this and how bad

was the post-op? my surgery experience could be described as a

journey through dante's levels of hell, so i am less than inclined

to be excited about this.

lauren

May 20, 2004

Oh, dear...

I confess, your post makes me think all sorts of selfish thoughts,

rather than address your question immediately. Are you telling me

that it's likely that I got, um, frisky on the table in those three

not dental procedures I had with versed and whatever the other

similar drip sedation is? Oh, dear. Blush.

Honestly, from what I've heard, it's not too difficult to remove the

screws or plates. And I gather that a lot of surgeons do it in the

office, under the kind of sedation yours is planning. I don't think

I'd want a general for it, myself, from what I've heard. But then I'm

not a medical student who may have to deal with these folks on a

professional level afterward, either.

And sorry your previous experiences have been hellacious. I'll hope

that means you're overdue for an easy ride this time.

Best,

Cammie

> hi all-

>

> i am 1 year out from a lefort I (3 piece) and need to get my

> hardware removed due to pain and recurrent infection. my oral

> surgeon views this as a ridiculously simply 15 minute procedure

> which he has been insistent upon perfoming in his office under IV

> sedation. i am a medical student and have seen many procedures

> performed under IV sedation, including wisdom tooth extraction, and

> think that having this done would be a huge mistake. personally, i

> dont give a S&&& how much versed they give me, its not the memory

> that im worried about, its the 15 minutes of fame im going to have

> in that chair. long story short i am arm wrestling him to take me

> to day surgery to have this done under general anesthesia. have

any

> of you had your hardware removed? how painful was this and how bad

> was the post-op? my surgery experience could be described as a

> journey through dante's levels of hell, so i am less than inclined

> to be excited about this.

>

> lauren

May 20, 2004

Out of curiosity...why wouldnt you want to be put under General in

order to have them removed?

> > hi all-

> >

> > i am 1 year out from a lefort I (3 piece) and need to get my

> > hardware removed due to pain and recurrent infection. my oral

> > surgeon views this as a ridiculously simply 15 minute procedure

> > which he has been insistent upon perfoming in his office under IV

> > sedation. i am a medical student and have seen many procedures

> > performed under IV sedation, including wisdom tooth extraction,

and

> > think that having this done would be a huge mistake. personally,

i

> > dont give a S&&& how much versed they give me, its not the memory

> > that im worried about, its the 15 minutes of fame im going to

have

> > in that chair. long story short i am arm wrestling him to take

me

> > to day surgery to have this done under general anesthesia. have

> any

> > of you had your hardware removed? how painful was this and how

bad

> > was the post-op? my surgery experience could be described as a

> > journey through dante's levels of hell, so i am less than

inclined

> > to be excited about this.

> >

> > lauren

May 20, 2004

i do, actually i finally won my arm wrestling battle with him and we

are headed to the OR to get them out under general. my point is

that it is stupid to have this done under iv sedation. (not stupid,

but not an enjoyable experience). in regards to Cammie's post, i

wouldnt describe what i have witnessed as 'frisky', more like

expressions of pain. the magic of iv sedation is that you have no

memory of the procedure or the pain you might have experienced

during the procedure.

my primary concern now is the recovery process for this. i've seen

posts that compared this to the primary surgery as being more

painful, and many posts which seem to relate 'easy' experiences with

getting the hardware removed. anyone who's had this done, please

toss me your story. i'd really appreciate a realistic heads up.

sorry if my posts are bitter, personally i have 0 patience with

oral surgeons and do not have positive feelings about my surgical

experience.

> > > hi all-

> > >

> > > i am 1 year out from a lefort I (3 piece) and need to get my

> > > hardware removed due to pain and recurrent infection. my oral

> > > surgeon views this as a ridiculously simply 15 minute

procedure

> > > which he has been insistent upon perfoming in his office under

IV

> > > sedation. i am a medical student and have seen many

procedures

> > > performed under IV sedation, including wisdom tooth

extraction,

> and

> > > think that having this done would be a huge mistake.

personally,

> i

> > > dont give a S&&& how much versed they give me, its not the

memory

> > > that im worried about, its the 15 minutes of fame im going to

> have

> > > in that chair. long story short i am arm wrestling him to

take

> me

> > > to day surgery to have this done under general anesthesia.

have

> > any

> > > of you had your hardware removed? how painful was this and

how

> bad

> > > was the post-op? my surgery experience could be described as

a

> > > journey through dante's levels of hell, so i am less than

> inclined

> > > to be excited about this.

> > >

> > > lauren

May 20, 2004

Hi ,

I can't remember anyone here who recently had plates & screws

removed post-op, but I did a bit of an archive search back to Jun

12th 2003, and mla72653 (Marsha) posted that she'd had plates &

screws removed at 4 months post-op. If you went to that post and

searched around, or tried going back through the archives searching

on her name, you could probably find more posts on her experience. I

do find the archive function very tedious, though, it takes a long

time to get through, you have to be pretty patient.

Hope that helps,

> > > > hi all-

> > > >

> > > > i am 1 year out from a lefort I (3 piece) and need to get

my

> > > > hardware removed due to pain and recurrent infection. my

oral

> > > > surgeon views this as a ridiculously simply 15 minute

> procedure

> > > > which he has been insistent upon perfoming in his office

under

> IV

> > > > sedation. i am a medical student and have seen many

> procedures

> > > > performed under IV sedation, including wisdom tooth

> extraction,

> > and

> > > > think that having this done would be a huge mistake.

> personally,

> > i

> > > > dont give a S&&& how much versed they give me, its not the

> memory

> > > > that im worried about, its the 15 minutes of fame im going

to

> > have

> > > > in that chair. long story short i am arm wrestling him to

> take

> > me

> > > > to day surgery to have this done under general anesthesia.

> have

> > > any

> > > > of you had your hardware removed? how painful was this and

> how

> > bad

> > > > was the post-op? my surgery experience could be described

as

> a

> > > > journey through dante's levels of hell, so i am less than

> > inclined

> > > > to be excited about this.

> > > >

> > > > lauren

May 20, 2004

Hi ,

I did have hardware removed in April although my surgery was a

little more extensive. I had distractors removed and replaced with

screws and plates to hold the healing bone in place. The surgery was

much easier and far less painful than my previous surgeries. I did

spend two nights in the hospital afterwards but that was because I

do not react well to general anesthesia and kept vomiting despite

round the clock Zofran. I was able to resume a soft diet and

returned to work a week later (in a busy ER) without any problems.

People just kept asking me if I had had my wisdom teeth removed

because I had chipmunk cheeks but otherwise everything was fine.

It's been six weeks and the swelling is completely gone. I was able

to manage my pain easily with just ibuprofen and tylenol within a

week.

I hope this helps and that your hardware removal goes just as

smoothly.

May 20, 2004

No doubt, Miz , that you know more about all this than do I.

So my wrist surgeon orthopod, and my general surgeon who removed

something painful from my (ahem! indelicacy here) saw me writhing in

pain while they were cutting??? Ewww. But I'm glad to hear that I

wasn't being otherwise obnoxious -- I forgot to ask, actually.

And you're right -- I don't have any memory of the surgery, in any of

the three cases, at all. (Nor with the jaw surgery, done under

general, for that matter.) Into the OR, lightbulb goes out, and hey --

I'm awake. Immediately, in one of the two wrist surgeries I knew

that the feeling was back and the binding was too tight, which the

doc fixed equally immediately.

Is surgery ever " enjoyable " ? Just wondering... You've witnessed it,

and I haven't. I've often wondered what my mom went through in heart

valve replacement. I'll spare the graphic details the surgeons gave

me, but I can only imagine the experiences. Of course she had general

for this.

I do know that she had profound depressive aftereffects, and she was

one of the most positive people I've ever known -- she could not

understand why she was having that trouble.

Have you considered involving a different oral surgeon? Tell me if

I'm wrong, but doesn't it put you back about 100 yards before the

starting line if you have negative feelings when you go into surgery?

Is this guy an sob? (sorry for the language, but they are indeed out

there.) Do you need someone else doing your work?

Can you ask this surgeon to let you speak with some patients who have

had the hardware removed? That might be illuminating for you... I'd

want some with easy trips and some who had trouble, if he'll supply

them.

OK. You know more than I. You'll be a better doc for all of this, I'm

confident, although I would not have chosen this as a training course

for you.

My sympathies and good wishes to you.

Cammie

>

> my primary concern now is the recovery process for this. i've

seen

> posts that compared this to the primary surgery as being more

> painful, and many posts which seem to relate 'easy' experiences

with

> getting the hardware removed. anyone who's had this done, please

> toss me your story. i'd really appreciate a realistic heads up.

>

> sorry if my posts are bitter, personally i have 0 patience with

> oral surgeons and do not have positive feelings about my surgical

> experience.

>

May 21, 2004

I believe that Jane (halfondj) also had to have hardware removal.

Actually at least one of her plates broke, and one of her screws

worked its way out, if I'm thinking straight.

But bear in mind that she also had a lot of other troubles --

deteriorated joints, and, as she discovered to her distress, big-time

heart trouble, while in the midst of all this....

cammie

> Hi ,

>

> I can't remember anyone here who recently had plates & screws

> removed post-op, but I did a bit of an archive search back to Jun

> 12th 2003, and mla72653 (Marsha) posted that she'd had plates &

> screws removed at 4 months post-op. If you went to that post and

> searched around, or tried going back through the archives searching

> on her name, you could probably find more posts on her experience.

I

> do find the archive function very tedious, though, it takes a long

> time to get through, you have to be pretty patient.

>

> Hope that helps,

>

May 21, 2004

Hi ,

I had maxillary and chin hardware removed in January--6 months post.

It was done under a general. Took about 40 minutes, recovery about

45 min, them home. I was a bit sore for the next couple of days.

NOTHING like the primary surgery. A bit of swelling, but no

problems. Good Luck. a