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About two years ago I had corrective surgery as an adult (then aged 66) during which rods were placed from T4-S1 with pelvic fixation. A hardware associated infection was identified one year later and during the course of treatment a small portion of one rod was removed. For the 9 years that followed, all seemed to be going well.
A month ago a recurrent hardware associated infection became obvious (unresolved implant biofilm associated, presumably). My original Surgeon has retired and is not available for consultation. Consultation with a new-to-me, well respected spine surgeon has recommended removal of all hardware. His stated belief is that, noting that a CT shows (apparently) solid bone growth, replacement is not indicated and that I should anticipate spine changes (scoliosis relapse) or increased risk of catastrophic spine fracture during normal activities. Does this sound like a "reasonable" expectation?
A month ago a recurrent hardware associated infection became obvious (unresolved implant biofilm associated, presumably). My original Surgeon has retired and is not available for consultation. Consultation with a new-to-me, well respected spine surgeon has recommended removal of all hardware. His stated belief is that, noting that a CT shows (apparently) solid bone growth, replacement is not indicated and that I should anticipate spine changes (scoliosis relapse) or increased risk of catastrophic spine fracture during normal activities. Does this sound like a "reasonable" expectation?
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