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BAHA Abutment Vanished

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milhaus:
I am having a very strange complication after my BAHA surgery which was just a week and a half ago on the 29th of July. My abutment seems to have been completely swallowed by my skin. Its like the hole that they made for the abutment in my skin has slowly migrated downward, and now the abutment is completely buried under my skin and all that is left is a big hole right into my head! The hole is leaking tons of fluid and I'm really worried about getting an infection because it is just a completely uncovered hold right into my head.

I called my doctor's office to tell them what was going on this morning (their office is only open from 8 am to 1130 am on Fridays. I told them it seemed the skin was growing over my abutment and so they prescribed me some antibiotics because they assumed the issue was that the swelling was just too great around the abutment. However, I can tell you that the swelling is almost completely gone. Its the lowest it has ever been since the operation. Now their office is closed and I will have no way to contact them until Monday and I don't know what to do. I have to work night shift and so will have to work in a dusty environment with a literal hole in my head.

Has this happened to anyone else? What should I do?

CHD63:
Hi milhaus .....

If I were you I would put a bandage over the site and cover it with a hat/cap/sweatband/etc. to wear at work. The last thing you want is a massive infection at the surgery site.  I would also call the doctor on call and ask if it is OK to put Neosporin or some kind of antibiotic ointment directly on the site.  ..... and be sure to take the antibiotics they prescribed.

Many prayers and good luck.

Clarice

leapyrtwins:
I don't want to alarm you, but this is not normal.  As you say, it's a strange complication.

I agree with Clarice that you need to keep the site covered with a bandage but I also feel that your doctor needs to see your BAHA site.

I'd call first thing Monday morning and get an appointment.

This is the type of thing your doctor needs to see, not just hear about.  In the end it may be less serious than you think, but the doctor should be making that assessment after seeing it for himself/herself.

Good luck and please keep us posted,

Jan

milhaus:
Thank you for your replies. I ended up calling the hospital and asking them to page my doctor. I sent him a picture and he had me meet him at his office even though it was closed. He decided it was badly infected and that had caused the skin to start moving in ways we didn't want it to. He put me on antibiotics and has my wife cleaning and disinfecting the site twice a day.

He wants me to send another picture on Monday and if it doesn't look better I will have to have another procedure this week to fix it. So far it seems the infection is dying down but the abutment is still almost entirely hidden under my skin. The hole is closing up a little but is still just an open hole in my head.

He also wants me off work for another week. That will be a total of two and a half weeks off just for a baha surgery because of all the complications I have had so far.

leapyrtwins:
Thanks for keeping us posted.

I'm glad you called your doctor.  It's better to have him look at it and tell you it's nothing than to just assume it's nothing (when it could be something).

Sounds like you have quite a nasty infection, but your doc is on top of things. 

I, thankfully, had no complications from my implant and it's not the norm, but I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this.

Hope things get better soon  :)

Jan

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