They cut back the contaminated tissue and cleaned out the area. The surgeon did say that there was bone showing, but that it didn't seem to go to the implant. The opening is a football shape about 9 cm long. He anticipates at least a month with the wound VAC, which will run continuous suction. Depending on how it goes, it looks like she will have to have a follow-up surgery at that point. The plastic surgeon recommended a skin graft, but the orthopedic surgeon wants to avoid that as he will be doing future spine surgeries on that same area. He wants the best skin there possible for future healing needs. He is hoping he will just be able to surgically close the healthy skin together.
As far as this stay, it may take 4-5 days to get the wound VAC machine for home use. The anesthesiologist also warned us it may take a few days for them to feel comfortable releasing her from a medical standpoint. We don’t have an estimate yet, but much of it will depend on how she is doing respiratory wise. They want to set us up with a home care nurse to change out the sponges and reseal the area twice a week, but apparently it is really difficult to get anyone who is willing to do wound VAC care on kids. At this point, we will have to bring her into the hospital twice a week for this care.
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