Surgeon left a broken anchor in me, Should I be concerned?

I recently had surgery to repair a major pectoralis tear on my left side. The surgeon used suture anchors to reattach the tendon. He placed 4 anchors into my arm, but only 3 are being utilized in the repair. Apparently the 4th anchor broke during the procedure and he could not retrieve it. So I have a broken, unused anchor in my arm. Two questions: 1) Is 3 anchors enough for an effective repair? 2) Should I be concerned about the 4th, unused anchor that is in my bone? Thank you very much in advanced.





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4 Comments on “Surgeon left a broken anchor in me, Should I be concerned?

  1. Hi and welcome to questionDoctors.com
    If this anchor is not causing pain.hematoma.swelling. there is no worry about it…
    3 anchors are usually in enough according to the tear size and the healing occurred but this can be known by doing MRI …
    Strength your muscles and do some laser physiotherapy treatments.

  2. hi
    if the surgeon has felt that 3 anchors would do the job and if the repair is strong enough ,then this may be sufficient. Depends on the quality of your muscles and bones actually. But ,we do use 3-4 anchors for a strong repair. Broken anchor,well it would have been better had it been removed,but its removal is risky at times and is better left that removed.Wont cause you any problems

  3. HI
    I DONT THINK YOU SHOULD BE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THAT BROKEN ANCHOR. MANY BROKEN ANCHORS REMAIN UNHARMFUL FOR A LIFETIME UNLESS YOU GET ANY INJURY TO THAT REGION IN THE FUTURE. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT IF 4 ANCHORS WOULD HAVE BEEN USED,BUT 3 ARE FAIR ENOUGH

  4. hello there
    4 anchors are ideal if your tear was a large one. Medium tears can be sutured strongly with 3 anchors. We need to know the size of the tear that you had before the surgery to comment on the surgical procedure. About the broken anchor,if its embedded strongly in the bone and is immobile,then do not worry. Only if it loosens,it needs attention and subsequent removal

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