One of our own GAREBEAR having surgery Friday

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

Gary from Virginia is having surgery to fix what was fixed and broke again somehow. Had a plate and screws in leg after accident in Dec. All was fine till  last week and went to Doctor. He broke some screws somehow. They operate Friday to repair again. Hang in there Gary and a swift recovery  

[G-Man]

Good luck!

[Bighead]

Dave looking at that X-ray he is growing some bone. It is a race between the bone healing and the Hardware failing every time ,sometimes the bone wins sometimes the Hardware wins.
That is what they call a Locking plate on his tibia and they are very rigid ( too rigid in somes opinion ) did two just like that on Monday

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

Dave looking at that X-ray he is growing some bone. It is a race between the bone healing and the Hardware failing every time ,sometimes the bone wins sometimes the Hardware wins.
That is what they call a Locking plate on his tibia and they are very rigid ( too rigid in somes opinion ) did two just like that on Monday

Makes sense to me. I know you know your business 

[G-Man]

ORIF = Open Reduction (surgery) w/ Internal Fixation (plates and screws).

Vs.

CREF = Closed Reduction (no surgery) w/ External Fixation (cast).

ORIF is used to get the patient back to normal daily activity faster.  Bighead is right on the money.  The patient goes back to activity before the bone is healed so the hardware is under tension and pressure.  Patients should limit activity, but some don't.   

Where I did my residency, the Podiatry dept was actually within the Orthopedic dept.  They didn't hire ortho residents so the podiatry residents scrubbed in on their cases.  Ortho surgery is like real messy carpentry complete with sterile battery operated hand tools like drills and saws and all the plates and screws are sterile as well.