DePuy EXPEDIUM 6.35 Users

[rjmacready]

If anyone has the above mentioned fixation system, or the version 5.5, or any system that uses a large rod mounting post screwed into both sides of the ilium: If you sleep on your back, do you feel the hardware? The illustrations of the system show the largest of the rod retention posts are the two that screw into the ilium. I am confined to sleeping on my back due to neurological problems after a 1998 lumbar fusion. I am thin, and worried they will be painful. TIA, RJM

[leahdragonfly]

Hi, I had a major lumbar revision 9 months ago for broken rods, and my surgeon used very heavy hardware to try and prevent further problems since this was my 2nd go-around with broken rods. The rods are I think 6.5 mm with bilateral 6 or 7 cm iliac anchors. Big ass screws!! The hardware is prominent but I am able to lay perfectly comfortably on my back in bed, on the couch, etc. I am not comfortable on my back on harder surfaces because of the prominence of the hardware.

Good luck,

[titaniumed]

Mine are 8mm diameter iliac screws.....They are quite long.... My system is Synthes Pangea, it’s all 6mm dia. All my hardware is Titanium with PEEK spacers

I don’t feel any of my hardware.

They ached like the dickens for the first 3 months in my recovery......a deep dull ache, not a sharp pain.

I also had flouroscopy burns on my hips......it feels like a bad sunburn, and makes sleeping difficult. This eventually subsides after a few weeks.

Sometimes, surgeons will use only one screw on one side, or two screws.

I attached an x-ray of 4 iliac screws used on a patient. You don’t see this too often.....see below

Ed

[rjmacready]

Good info

Thanks titaniumed, I do worry that they won't be able to fix what they screwed up in my 1998 surgery, and sleeping on my side will still be a problem. MRIs on 6-28 revealed nothing definitive. Getting a CT Myelo and EMG just to say I tried everything. It still makes me ill I have to do this- after my first experience, which is nothing compared to what I'm having done, it gives me pause. However I can't walk without tremendous neck strain, and the prolonged sedentary life style has atrophied my lumbar musculature. The time has come, whether I like it or not. It is not just the trauma of the procedure, but the frequency of revisions due to hardware malfunctions that is also disturbing. Hopefully the Myelo or EMG will pinpoint a problem, just regaining the ability to sleep on my side would be worth it. I haven't slept like I used to since 1998, and I miss it. RJM

[leahdragonfly]

Hi again,

I came across my surgical report when cleaning out a drawer today...one year ago today my L1-S1 5.5 hardware system was replaced with DePuy Synthes 6.35 Expedium, the one you asked about. The hardware was also extended to include iliac fixation. The lower hardware is all quite prominent. I can lay comfortably on my back in bed or on softer surfaces, but not harder surfaces due to hardware prominence. My weight is in the normal BMI range.

When is your surgery?