For those of you who've had tendon transfer surgery...

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

We took Jake for his appt with Dr Dietz at the University of Iowa this

morning. Dr Dietz is recommending that we have the tendon transfer

surgery (he said that we also had the option to do casts alone for 6 wks

and then the DBB afterwards, but in his experience when children are as

old as Jake is, casts alone don't work well and the child usually needs

the surgery anyways). He'll have to stay overnight in the hospital the

night after surgery, and he'll have a cast on for 6 wks...he'll have to

stay off his feet for that entire time (that will, I'm sure, be the

worst part of the surgery--Jake is very active and loves to run

around!). Seth & I haven't made a definite decision yet but we're

leaning towards surgery.

So, now we have lots of questions for you...

~~how long did the surgery take?

~~was your child groggy afterwards?

~~what did they do for pain control?

~~how did you keep your child off his/her feet for the 6 wks of cast?

Any other specifics you could give about your surgery experience would

be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a bunch,

Kassia

mommy to 3/22/01 (Lt club foot)

and 11/22/02

[Guest guest]

My son, Dylan, had the tendon transfer surgery on 10/28/03, 2 days after his 3rd

birthday. We just went for our first checkup after the surgery (not counting the

follow up visits) on Feb 27th and our doctor said his feet look great!

To answer your questions.....

~~how long did the surgery take? If I remember correctly, the surgery itself

took approximately 3 hours. We were scheduled for surgery at 9 am but they were

running behind and he wasn't taken back to surgery until about 11:30.

~~was your child groggy afterwards? Oh,yes! although right after surgery was

nothing compared to the next day. The day after surgery was miserable. But each

day after that got a little better.

~~what did they do for pain control? Dylan was given an epidural for pain in the

beginning, then they gave him Roxicet which is like percocet. The day after

surgery nothing seemed to help so they gave him something intravenously(which I

think was morphine, but I don't really remember now) and also valium for muscle

spasms. When we went home he had Roxicet every 4 hours for the first 2-3 days

and then he slowly didn't need it anymore.

~~how did you keep your child off his/her feet for the 6 wks of cast? This is

the biggest joke there is. There was no way that I could keep Dylan off his

feet. We had a wheelchair for going places, but when we were at home he was

walking on his casts a week after surgery. 3 weeks after he was running on his

casts. Dr. Herzenberg said that there was no way to really keep him off his feet

if he was determined to be on them, but that we shouldn't encourage him to walk.

Everyone was amazed that he could walk on them. He had fiberglass casts, though,

not plaster.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

Bonnie B.

Wife to Jack, 5/3/92

mom to Zack, 8/3/93,

, 12/29/97, and

Dylan, 10/26/00- bilateral CF, ATTT 10/28/03

For those of you who've had tendon transfer

surgery...

Hello all,

We took Jake for his appt with Dr Dietz at the University of Iowa this

morning. Dr Dietz is recommending that we have the tendon transfer

surgery (he said that we also had the option to do casts alone for 6 wks

and then the DBB afterwards, but in his experience when children are as

old as Jake is, casts alone don't work well and the child usually needs

the surgery anyways). He'll have to stay overnight in the hospital the

night after surgery, and he'll have a cast on for 6 wks...he'll have to

stay off his feet for that entire time (that will, I'm sure, be the

worst part of the surgery--Jake is very active and loves to run

around!). Seth & I haven't made a definite decision yet but we're

leaning towards surgery.

So, now we have lots of questions for you...

~~how long did the surgery take?

~~was your child groggy afterwards?

~~what did they do for pain control?

~~how did you keep your child off his/her feet for the 6 wks of cast?

Any other specifics you could give about your surgery experience would

be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a bunch,

Kassia

mommy to 3/22/01 (Lt club foot)

and 11/22/02

[Guest guest]

Hello!

Could somebody clarify...under what circumstances would a child need the

tendon transfer surgery?

Thanks,

Bess

mom to Elena, 3/31/00 and Audrey, 9/27/03 (bcf, dbb 23/7)

At 09:30 AM 3/9/2004, you wrote:

>My son, Dylan, had the tendon transfer surgery on 10/28/03, 2 days after

>his 3rd birthday. We just went for our first checkup after the surgery

>(not counting the follow up visits) on Feb 27th and our doctor said his

>feet look great!

>

>To answer your questions.....

>

>~~how long did the surgery take? If I remember correctly, the surgery

>itself took approximately 3 hours. We were scheduled for surgery at 9 am

>but they were running behind and he wasn't taken back to surgery until

>about 11:30.

>~~was your child groggy afterwards? Oh,yes! although right after surgery

>was nothing compared to the next day. The day after surgery was miserable.

>But each day after that got a little better.

>~~what did they do for pain control? Dylan was given an epidural for pain

>in the beginning, then they gave him Roxicet which is like percocet. The

>day after surgery nothing seemed to help so they gave him something

>intravenously(which I think was morphine, but I don't really remember now)

>and also valium for muscle spasms. When we went home he had Roxicet every

>4 hours for the first 2-3 days and then he slowly didn't need it anymore.

>~~how did you keep your child off his/her feet for the 6 wks of cast? This

>is the biggest joke there is. There was no way that I could keep Dylan off

>his feet. We had a wheelchair for going places, but when we were at home

>he was walking on his casts a week after surgery. 3 weeks after he was

>running on his casts. Dr. Herzenberg said that there was no way to really

>keep him off his feet if he was determined to be on them, but that we

>shouldn't encourage him to walk. Everyone was amazed that he could walk on

>them. He had fiberglass casts, though, not plaster.

>

>Hope that helps, and good luck!

>

>Bonnie B.

>Wife to Jack, 5/3/92

>mom to Zack, 8/3/93,

>, 12/29/97, and

>Dylan, 10/26/00- bilateral CF, ATTT 10/28/03

> For those of you who've had tendon

> transfer surgery...

>

>

> Hello all,

>

> We took Jake for his appt with Dr Dietz at the University of Iowa this

> morning. Dr Dietz is recommending that we have the tendon transfer

> surgery (he said that we also had the option to do casts alone for 6 wks

> and then the DBB afterwards, but in his experience when children are as

> old as Jake is, casts alone don't work well and the child usually needs

> the surgery anyways). He'll have to stay overnight in the hospital the

> night after surgery, and he'll have a cast on for 6 wks...he'll have to

> stay off his feet for that entire time (that will, I'm sure, be the

> worst part of the surgery--Jake is very active and loves to run

> around!). Seth & I haven't made a definite decision yet but we're

> leaning towards surgery.

>

> So, now we have lots of questions for you...

> ~~how long did the surgery take?

> ~~was your child groggy afterwards?

> ~~what did they do for pain control?

> ~~how did you keep your child off his/her feet for the 6 wks of cast?

>

> Any other specifics you could give about your surgery experience would

> be greatly appreciated.

>

> Thanks a bunch,

> Kassia

> mommy to 3/22/01 (Lt club foot)

> and 11/22/02

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Kids usually do not need tendon transfer surgery unless the clubfoot was

not corrected using simple casts. In our case, Jake, at almost 3 yrs

old, has had a relapse, and our surgeon said that at his age casts alone

typically do not work. So we'll be doing the surgery (if we do the

casts and they don't work, then he'd need the surgery anyways). If you

need more info, got to www.vh.org that's the University of Iowa's

health information website, and you can get to Dr Ponseti's clubfoot

information pages there.

Kassia

mommy to 3/22/01 (Lt clubfoot)

and 11/22/02

[Guest guest]

> Hello!

>

> Could somebody clarify...under what circumstances would a child

need the

> tendon transfer surgery?

>

> Thanks,

> Bess

>

> mom to Elena, 3/31/00 and Audrey, 9/27/03 (bcf, dbb 23/7)

It is used only if a relapse has happened in an older child.

FYI, here is a link to an article by Dr. Ponseti on relapses, for

more information:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/nosurgery4clubfoot/message/13223

and Claire

[Guest guest]

My son Elliott, age 2, had the Tendon Transfer Surgery this past

December. It was done because his both his feet were starting to

relapse.

THe surgery itself took about 3 hours. They gave him morphine for

the pain, but Elliott wasnt really in that much pain, he was more

upset with the IV lines attatched to him. We spent overnight in the

hospital, the next day, he was running a low grade fever, which after

consulting with not only his surgeon, but his pediatrician, we were

told this was not uncommon, and it went away in a day or so. For the

most part, Elliott was not in pain, however he couldnt walk, nor did

he try to stand up until about 2 weeks after the surgery.

[Guest guest]

Hi Kassia,

see our answers below and search in Nov 2003 and Dec 2003 for our posts then

if you want more info. Good luck!!

-

~~how long did the surgery take?

the actual surgery took about 25 minutes per foot, including casting. The

prep time etc added about another hour. It was very quick.

~~was your child groggy afterwards?

she was very groggy afterwards. the first and second days were nightmares

for us. The pain did not subside for a good week to 10 days.

~~what did they do for pain control?

They gave her an epidural which did not take. She was wheeled out of the

room able to wiggle her toes and feel everything. Observing this, they

started pumping her to the max with morphine, which did help but they were

playing catch up with the pain at that point. A real disaster. I truly

hope it goes better for you.

~~how did you keep your child off his/her feet for the 6 wks of cast?

Emma was in plaster casts for 6 weeks and was never able to walk in them.

She scooted around on her bum. We provided plently of entertainment

(coloring, glue, sparkles, movies, view finder, crafts etc), and went to our

local Biodome, Ecomuseum, Shopping mall etc. I don't think that you need to

keep them off their feet if they really want to walk.

Any other specifics you could give about your surgery experience would

be greatly appreciated.

-I may be forgetting some things, so do check our past posts, but I do not

have any fond memories of our experience except that the doctors (Ponseti

and Morcuende) were very caring and competent.

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to clarify one point. Emma was not in constant pain for 10 days.

She would have several hours without pain then a half hour to an hour where

she would experience some jolts then several hours would pass without pain.

Over the course of the 10 days the intervals without pain became longer

while the painful periods lessened. The first three days were the worst.

RE: For those of you who've had tendon

transfer surgery...

Hi Kassia,

see our answers below and search in Nov 2003 and Dec 2003 for our posts then

if you want more info. Good luck!!

-

~~how long did the surgery take?

the actual surgery took about 25 minutes per foot, including casting. The

prep time etc added about another hour. It was very quick.

~~was your child groggy afterwards?

she was very groggy afterwards. the first and second days were nightmares

for us. The pain did not subside for a good week to 10 days.

~~what did they do for pain control?

They gave her an epidural which did not take. She was wheeled out of the

room able to wiggle her toes and feel everything. Observing this, they

started pumping her to the max with morphine, which did help but they were

playing catch up with the pain at that point. A real disaster. I truly

hope it goes better for you.

~~how did you keep your child off his/her feet for the 6 wks of cast?

Emma was in plaster casts for 6 weeks and was never able to walk in them.

She scooted around on her bum. We provided plently of entertainment

(coloring, glue, sparkles, movies, view finder, crafts etc), and went to our

local Biodome, Ecomuseum, Shopping mall etc. I don't think that you need to

keep them off their feet if they really want to walk.

Any other specifics you could give about your surgery experience would

be greatly appreciated.

-I may be forgetting some things, so do check our past posts, but I do not

have any fond memories of our experience except that the doctors (Ponseti

and Morcuende) were very caring and competent.

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much everyone for your replies about ATTT surgery. I feel

better knowing more about it! We have it scheduled for April 27...we

won't find out the exact time until the day before.

I thought of a few more questions:

~~most of you mentioned that your child had an epidural. Was your child

awake for the surgery?? Or was it given afterwards, for pain control

after surgery?

~~what kind of a scar does your child have?

~~Dr Dietz told us that there is a risk of the tendon detaching again if

the child is too active, even in the cast. Most of you said that your

child was walking or standing in the cast. Did you have any problems

with the tendon detaching or anything?

Thanks again for all your replies. I did search back thru previous

posts and found a lot of info there too (thanks for the suggestion !).

Kassia

mommy to 3/22/01 (Lt clubfoot)

and 11/22/02

[Guest guest]

Kassia, see below!

-

Re: For those of you who've had tendon

transfer surgery...

Thank you so much everyone for your replies about ATTT surgery. I feel

better knowing more about it! We have it scheduled for April 27...we

won't find out the exact time until the day before.

I thought of a few more questions:

~~most of you mentioned that your child had an epidural. Was your child

awake for the surgery?? Or was it given afterwards, for pain control

after surgery?

the child is put out by an anethesiologist (sp?). We were asked to carry

Emma to the room and they held a mask close to her face and gradually put it

over her face as she went out in Dan's arms. The epidural (given during the

surgery) was supposed to block the pain to last through the time when she

came out of surgery.

~~what kind of a scar does your child have?

two purplish scars on either side of the top of the foot, about an inch long

each and a small scar on the bottom of the foot where the button anchored

the tendon. They seem to be getting smaller, I don't know if they will go

away altogether.

~~Dr Dietz told us that there is a risk of the tendon detaching again if

the child is too active, even in the cast. Most of you said that your

child was walking or standing in the cast. Did you have any problems

with the tendon detaching or anything?

From what I understood frm Dr. Morcuende, the detachment episode goes back

to when Dr. Dietz was using a different way to anchor the tendon. I don't

think they have had it happen with the button, which is what they use now.

But Dr. Morcuende did want Emma to take it easy, even after the casts were

off. Infection did happen with a child whose cast was allowed to get wet on

the bottom.

Incidentally, it took Emma a week to be able to walk again after getting out

of the 6 week casts, and over a month to begin walking normally. She

continued to scoot on her bum, and her calf muscles were almost

non-existant. They are much better now and she can run with the best of

them. The boys seem to be stronger and more adventurous, I'm sure

will do fine.

[Guest guest]

When Elliott had the surgery, he was put under. In fact they

couldn't use the regular methodology of anesthesia where they apply

gas using a mask. Because of a family condition, which I dont

remember the name off hand, they had to put him under differently.

For the pain after the surgery, they prescribed morphine, but he was

fine with just regular Tylenol a day after surgery.

Since he had both feet done, he has a small, 1 inch scar on the top

of both his feet.

He was able to start walking also about a week after the casts

finally came off. He spent 4 weeks in casts, this was to allow the

tendon to heal and properly graft to the new location.