Ankle fusion

Does anyone here have any knowledge about ankle fusion?

My 37 year old brother suffered a tibia plafond fracture in March in a hockey accident. He had pins and plates put in and I thought he was doing better (I saw him in August and he was starting to gain some range of motion; I'm away at school so I don't see him much)

All of a sudden I found yesterday that the doctor said he needs to have an ankle fusion because the bone is deteriorating quickly.

I am devastated by this news. Does anyone have any input about what he should do? I think he should get a second opinion.

He is so YOUNG :(

thanks for reading people

hugs

Hello & welcome to the forum. One of the atty that I worked with was in a bad car accident & ended having to have a fusion on his ankle. Like your brother they initially tried avoiding doing the fusion but it just did not work. Once a fusion is done on an ankle they do lose a good bit of range of motion but it did improve his situation which is the goal anyway.

If he has bone deteriorating there probably is not much else that can be done. I second the motion of always getting a 2nd opinion before any surgery. Just my feelings. He may not feel comfortable doing this especially if he trusts his surgeon & is comfortable with the decision. If that is the case I urge you to try & be supportive of his decision. Since you are not around him a lot there is probably a lot that has been going on that you are not aware of. I am sure he is not happy to be facing another surgery either but I imagine he has bwen going through a lot with that foot.

Please let us know how he fares with everything. Take care.