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Titanium or hardware reaction to ACDF, please help?

Hi All,

Im at the end of the road and could really do with some support.

I have ACDF between C4 - C6 - 3 levels 6 months ago at the beginning of April . They removed extra bone that had grown as a result of a curve in my neck I knew nothing about , I had it since childhood and it decided to manifest at my current age of 37.

Since surgery I have had a positive response to my original symptoms of numbness and pain down my left arm and hand.

However since surgery and more apparent 8 -10 weeks post surgery are the symptoms of  rashing up in area of neck chest throat and site of plate, burning ears and throat, chronic pain in my neck and a feeling of burning and soreness in neck and spine. I also with a bad episode experience a temp and chronic fatigue. Prior to this operation I have never been sick in my life and would be considered a very healthy 30 something.

I have since been diagnosed with a " viral" which never went away.......my symptoms have progressively got worst to the point I can do very limited physical activity and I am awake most nights with burning neck pain.

My neurosurgeon has ruled out infection at site and I have been in hospital for 2 weeks to establish what is going on as my contrasted MRI showed nothing.
One of the tests they did was a  radiation CT scan , it goes to a deeper level of bone than a MRI. Findings from that have shown that I have an abnormal level of uptake activity to the site of the plate  - I.e all blood flow etc is leaving my body and going to site of wound consistently, which seemed to be " angry" . They said at this stage post op it should not show this level of uptake to the site and maybe my recovery is slower than others or I may have experienced a viral.

I then prior to discharge from hospital this weekend was asked what material was used in my fusion - a plate over 3 levels with 7 screws. I have requested information from my surgeon. My GP is also now seeking this information.

My neurosurgeon returns from holiday this week and I have written to request a full description of the patented product they have used to fuse my neck , I believe comes from the States( I live in Ireland) but I never asked anymore and trusted in the process.

I have alos requested a copy of my consent form which I sign prior to surgery and he verbal went through with me but allergy to metals / titanium was not mentioned.

I have just realised that since childhood I could never wear earrings as I had an adverse reaction to them, to this day I wear a pair of platinum studs for the past 20yrs as they are the only metal my body could tolerate - its kind of frightening to me now to think it could be a negative reaction to the hardware used during surgery.

I have lost 33 pounds since surgery and live in a constant state of burning ears, throat and neck( nothing visible upon doctors exam) it feels very internal, a burning neck and spine and then when the bad days hit I cant move my muscles and go what my husband calls a " green" colour.

Has anybody out there experienced a reaction to the hardware used and if so can you please offer me some support and today I cannot deal with the pain.

Thank you and hope to hear from someone,

Helen                
4 Responses
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Avatar universal
I am having the exact reaction extreme burning in the back of neck and 9 months post op 3 level
ACDF will little to no relief every day ! All mri and CT scams show some issues but nothing that would explain the extreme pain and burning. Is there such a thing as your body rejecting the titanium plate and screws? This is my last resort to seek answers but you seem to have the burning pain as I have and I never had this kind of pain until I had thre surgery but I feel the second surgeon opinion wanted to protect his fellow neurologist and won’t throw anyone under the bus as he said one thing the first visit and almost had a competent different reaction the second visit ! So strange how they change their answers! I am pleading for help with no end in sight!
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Avatar universal
In Aug 2015 I had SI joint surgery called ifuse. They put 3 titanium implants in. Within 2 weeks I noticed I was getting break outs all over and my ears were ringing on and off. By 4mo post op Ive had constant rashes popping up every where, and I started to have a stabbing pain in that SI joint again, I feel swollen and Im more tired now then I was right after surgery. At 5 1/2mo the ringing is my ears is all the time. I had brought up metal allergy to the Dr 4 times before surgery and all he said was skin contact is different to bone contact. I emailed the makers of my implants and in the DOC. they sent me it says....If a patient is suspected of having sensitivity to metal, the physician should consider having the patient tested for metal allergies with a test such as a MELISA test. My surgeon never did this. I am going to bring this up to my internist to see if I can have the test done. Im suppose to have surgery in the other SI joint but if this is the cause of my issues I think I will pass.
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Avatar universal
I had my surgery for ACDF C6/7 w/hardware on 06/18/15. I went back to work part time at the end of Sept. I still wasn't feeling 100% but was tired of being home. I worked about two weeks and felt really ill like I had the flu. Felt feverish, achy, exhausted, sleeping all the time. I had to take the week off work because I had no energy. I went back to work, once again worked two weeks and felt the same way. I was off work once again for another week. Each time barely feeling better and just pushing to go back to work. I made it until thanksgiving at which time not only was I sick with flu like symptoms I now had extreme pain in my shoulder blade, shoulder and arm. The entire month of Dec I was off. I saw the NS, had a CT, MRI and nerve test. With the holidays looming I couldn't get my results until Jan 8th. The CT confirmed I was fused, the nerve test showed slowing along my entire right arm, the MRI showed that my C5,C6,C7 all were compressed and that I had narrowing on my right side of all 3 but the C7/T1 had severe narrowing and that I needed to have a third neck surgery. I went home in shock. I saw my regular Dr the following week and told him what occurred and brought him the MRI results. I was still in so much pain so he said let's try some steroids to get the swelling under control so I could go back to work part time again. I made it two weeks only because of the steroids. In one day the pain was mostly gone. I also realized over those 2 weeks my throat, face, under my arms and in my thighs the swelling went down. My face had been broken out and it cleared up. But the day I finished my steroids all of that came back with a vengeance. I hadn't realized I had the swelling, I thought I had just gained weight from being so senditary after my surgery. I thought I wasn't eating right and that's why my face was broken out. But, this time when I felt the flu like symptoms and had to be off work again. The hopelessness was overwhelming. I got upset, I became so confused as to why this kept happening. I started to research and found out it was not anything I was doing wrong. That yes you can have metal allergies to the implants they place in you. Those implants can cause all sorts of havoc in your body. I finally made an appointment to see my NS again to discuss my third surgery on my neck. I see him on 03/02/16. At which time I will request while he is doing the fixing on my right side, I want the hardware removed. He has done both of my neck surgeries and I have developed a relationship with him. If he says no, I will find another surgeon to do as I request. I don't need the hardware I am fused.
I hope this helps you realize your not alone. I wish you luck in getting yourself fixed and feeling better quickly. I have read that if you do have metal allergies the longer the gear is in you the more opportunity it has to leach into your bones.

Best of luck,
Helpful - 0
10259986 tn?1410461402
Hi finnfinn, Have you had a skin allergy test performed? I would suggest getting the MELISA test done. Check out their website melisa.org. They will send you the test kit for free, you can select the metals to test for, and have your pcp draw the labs. That's how I discovered my titanium hypersensitivity that doctors still don't really feel is possible, but I assure you it is. Good Luck.
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