Broken Chest Wire

[Gerry]

Hi all,

Thought I had left a stray needle in my shirt the other day when I brushed against my chest and felt a sharp prick. On investigating further, I realised there was no needle there, but if I pressed on my chest at a certain spot, I got a sharp needle prick from the INSIDE !

Could this be a loose end of one of the chest wires?

Has anyone had this experience and if so what happened - did you get the wire removed? Who did it for you and did you have to have an x-ray first? How long did the procedure take?

Hope someone can help.

Regards

[Hank]

I didn't have one break, but I had one that stayed sore and felt like it was poking from the inside. My surgeon took it out. It was an outpatient procedure. Went in the morning and got prepped for OR. They gave me a bit of gas in the or and I woke up in the recovery room and my wife drove me home. Piece of cake.

[Zazzy]

Gerry,
I've broken the two top wires.... my surgeon told me that if they are not poking through the skin then they will be okay as scar tissue will form on them and they will stop hurting after a while. He will check them again and possibly remove them in September at my next appt. By the way... he said that he would do this at his office and it is no big deal... one stitch and we're done.

Take care and don't break any more!!!! lol

Zazzy

[Gerry]

Here's an update :

Thanks Hank and Zazzy,

I had a chest x-ray last week and every wire looks exactly like it did straight after surgery 5 months ago - no broken wire.

I have spoken to my surgeon in Brisbane and he tells me that if one of the ends is sticking into me and bothering me, then it can be easily removed under a local anaesthetic. He said any cardiac-thoracic surgeon can do it.

My attitutide to this is that if you buy a Ford car and it needs repair, you don't take it to a Chrysler dealer.

As I'll be in Sydney on business next week, I'll take a day off and fly up to Brisbane (1 hour flight), see the surgeon , have it done and fly back to Sydney that night. I will mark my chest with a felt pen as I can exactly pin-point (no pun intended) the position of the end of the wire.

Anyway, it gives me a chance to see "the great man" again!

Don't know why they don't put plastic tips on those wire ends....

I'll keep you posted.

Best wishes

[hensylee]

I believe it's baling wire - and no plastic ends!!

[Gail in Ca]

I had all my sternal wires removed 7 mos after surgery. The surgeon who did my 2nd avr suggested it when I mentioned to him at my post op visit that they really bothered me. Ihad to go off coumadin for 3 days and had the procedure as an out patient but in the hospital. It took 25 minutes. They did an xray first to pin point all and took all of them out. I was stiff the day after in the sternum but then I felt better.
I am so glad I had them removed,
Gail

[Hank]

The wire they use to wire up the sternum post op is actually the exact same wire that is used for piano wire. It's strong, and stainless steel.

[hensylee]

L I B! Piano wire!! Wait till I tell my musician brother!

[Bob Gleason]

While sometimes when I swing my golf clubs, I get a sensation of my sternum shifting a bit, I never felt any pain from the wires.

I guess it depends upon the surgeon's knot that is used to "tie" your chest together.

But I can play "chopsticks" on my chest!

[Ben Smith]

A couple of things.
First, I did have a broken chest wire. And it was very uncomfortable. It struck straight out. They could give no explaination as to why it broke just scheduled to get me into OR to remove the wire.
I also agree, all Ford's should go to Ford dealerships for service.

Second,
If the chest wires are stainless steel then how do I get a refrigerator magnet to stick to my chest?
I thought stainless steel wouldn't hold magnets?

[Gerry]

Hi all

Went back to the hospital and saw my surgeon. Only problem, I couldn't find the "spot" any more - it had disappeared.

It seems the pain was "nowhere near" the wires - so the good news is that I get to keep my 8 little reminders - no scar on the scar.

As for the pain - it's gone and I'm none the wiser.

Anyway, it was good to go back to the scene of my experiences 5 months ago.

Thanks for the replies - I'll keep that info for "next time".....

Regards

[Zazzy]

Hey Gerry... eight wires? I'm lucky... my surgeon did a partial incision on me.... it starts at the bottom of my sternum and goes up only five-six inches... so I have only four wires!

Glad to know that it wasn't that problem afterall!

Take care,
Zazzy

[Gerry]

Hi Ben

There are many different grades of stainless steel and some of them are magnetic.

Sounds like the fencing wire your surgeon used must have been magnetic.

Do you beep when you go through airport security?

I don't set the big (walk-through) machines off, but I do register on the hand-held scanners.

Best regards

[Ben Smith]

Actually, yes I do make the detector at the AirPort go off. And man is it fun. Those people freak out when the hand held goes off when they wave it over my chest. I love the look on there face when I open my shirt to PROVE I have had open heart surgery.

Funny though, I don't set the one off in the local Court House.

Hmm...:cool:

[DickV]

I travel all over the world and have never set it off. I have an x-ray of my chest at home and I believe I have counted sixteen loops.

Ben, they must have used 14 gauge chicken wire on you.

[Gerry]

Sounds more like FENCING wire, not chicken wire.

The surgeon pointed to a fan sitting in the room and said the wires are slightly smaller than the grille wires surrounding the fan

Regards

[Ben Smith]

I have fourteen or fifteen, I am not sure anymore. Can't remember.
It has happened at Port Columbus Air Port but not at any of the State Houses, Federal Buildings or County Court Houses I frequent. (There for work guys, lol)
They look to be huge. They showed me the one they took out and it was the size of the thick metal wire they make clothes hangers with.
Seemed extra large to me, but oh well.

Ben

[Andy in Montana]

Hi,

I think that if some of the wire they use is magnetic one should not ever get an MRI done as it will suck the wire out of your chest.
Thinking of the oxygen tank pulled into the 10 year old boy last week - which was on the news. Just food for thought. I just had a head and neck MRI last week - so my wires must not be magnetic. When answering the questionairre I forgot that I had wires in my chest. I did however tell them that I had had heart surgery - so they should have known about the wires - right?

Andy in Montana

[Ben Smith]

WOW.
That is kinda scary to think about.
But, I am glad you mentioned it.

Ben

[hensylee]

Andy, never take anything for granted in medicine - always try to remember to tell them you HAVE WIRES!! And hope they listen. And thanks for reminding all of us about this. I wouldn't have thought much about it before you mentioned it, altho I did see that horrible accident on the news. God bless