Broken Leg and Sweating

[reaton]

Quick Bio

Age: 66
Disability: C6 complete from diving accident in 1976 (46 years post)
Health: above average
Location: Plano, TX


Hello All,

About three weeks ago I missed a transfer from my van chair to my wheelchair and fell out on the floor of my van. The temperature outside was 105° and within 20 minutes it was approaching 120° inside my van. My wife realized something was wrong and came out and we managed to get me back in my wheelchair and I thought everything was OK. The next morning I woke up and my left leg was twice the size of my right leg and the color was blue/purple from the mid-thigh down. Immediately went to see my orthopedic surgeon and he said I had a complex fracture of my leg….. tibia, fibula, knee etc., due to my brittle bones.

He said if I was abled body he would put me in a “stove pipe cast” for three months (one that sticks straight out). But with me being in a wheelchair he said he wasn’t going to do that, it would just be cruel and I would probably have to go to an LTAC for hygiene, bowel and bladder care. He said the swelling was good because that’s the body‘s way of creating a cast. Going into the fourth week it looks like it’s beginning to heal but I sweat profusely. I wake up in the middle of the night and the sheets are soaked, I get out of the shower and I start sweating, my hair is always wet and curly and I smell like I am homeless.

I’ve been in a wheelchair long enough to know that this is my body‘s way of telling me that I’m in pain, but is there anything I can take to relieve the sweating. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

-Ronnie

[SCI-Nurse]

Have you checked your blood pressure? Fractures can cause pretty bad autonomic dysreflexia. Obviously you can't heal the fracture immediately to fix this, so many need to be on routine medication to control the AD symptoms. Talk to your primary care physician or whichever of your physicians is most knowledgeable about AD.

Also, you can be in a soft splint that is hinged to allow knee bending, as well as skin inspection. Swelling alone is not sufficient to keep the broken bones from moving around, which is what causes the pain, and the AD.

(KLD)

[ChesBay]

I did tib/fib and femur in 2001 from what was eventually a recalled wheelchair (coupled with a lousy fitting).
I used a manual chair and got a Quickie GP with a detachable footrest. My ortho used a soft splint as SCI-Nurse is recommending and I purchased extending adjustable leg rests. It took a few months but things stabilized and I was able to be mobile through most of the healing process. Bones healing was slow and we eventually added Electronic Bone growth stimulators to the mix. This got the healing moving along.

Wishing you the best Reaton. You've managed things well to get this far.

eta: T2/3, AD, sweating, pain, lack of sleep, were miserable first couple weeks.

[TheRainman]

I'm a c6/7 41yrs. I broke my ankle 30yrs ago and had to wear a removable boot. Sweating is a bitch. It would help if I raise my foot in the air. Problem was keeping my skin clear from pressure. Make sure none of that sweating is coming from pressure elsewhere.

[timbucktwo]

In 1982 10 years after my accident, I fracture my hip. Fell off my van lift headfirst to the parking lot, landed somehow on my seat gel pad at the time, friends lifted me into my van, and drove me to hospital, emergency doctor thought it was bad bruise, took a week off work, then PCP visit. Made me go the ER for Xray to have them toss me up to a room, before I could say anything. Wanted to put me in traction. I said hell no. left next day, followed up with that same ortho after 2 weeks, he said quote, "we can put a pin in there", we do it all the time. Called my rehab doctor I had back then and made him admit me to his care in hospital. all awhile this was going on, I tried to go to work........I sweat like a pig some days at work and home, I was changing shirts every couple hour. I took ibuprofen or Tylenol only to deal with the sweats and some pain. Everything comes back to me when I see another having to deal with this. My sweating seemed to be worse when transferring or moving. I mean that trauma to your body, and not laying still till it heals probably isn't so good for those bones either. By the time I got in with a good ortho doctor he said it was already healing, and he wouldn't do anything, just be careful, never fall again. I understand all the pain and the exact issues of sweating all the time. I went through the same, but I have no answer other than rest it as much as possible and the OTC meds unless they can prescribe some pain killer. I never had AD with this hip luckily, so the nurses know best. Good luck to healing, our bodies do know how over time.

[reaton]

Thanks everybody……my ortho has me coming in every two weeks for x-rays and I just got back. He said everything is healing like he thought it would and that he didn’t need to see me again for six weeks. He said the sweating was from the AD but with no rise in heart rate or blood pressure he wasn’t worried and recommended Ibuprofen.

I went into the summer feeling healthier than a bull for a 66 year old quad. Now I am just sitting around in this Texas heat feeling like an infirmed patient starring at my pool that I am too nervous to get in because of my leg. It will get better.

-Ronnie

[SCI-Nurse]

Better to use Tylenol for pain and trying to control the AD symptoms (are you sure your BP is normal? It is not officially AD without a systolic raise in BP of at least 30 mm. Hg.). NSAIDs like ibuprofen can help with pain, but also may impair bone healing.

(KLD)

[leschinsky]

I had surgery. That stopped the AD.

[reaton]

Thanks SCI-Nurse……….the Tylenol is helping. The sweating has been reduced to more of a slime and that only happens when my leg is being moved, having a spasm or is in an odd position. Have not checked BP.

-Ronnie

[SCI-Nurse]

If you are at risk for AD, you MUST get a digital blood pressure cuff! We used to issue one to all our patients at risk upon discharge from rehab. (KLD)