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What Causes Swollen Ankle And Yellow Fluid Discharge After A Tibia Fracture?
My son broke his Tibia in 2 places, just above the ankle last Sun, skiing, no skin broken though. Leg swollen, lots of pain, hard to find med that ease pain. Ortho. waiting for swelling to go down so he can do surgery & perhaps insert a rod in leg. Today, his cast was oozing yellow fluid, & they went back to ER. It s coming from his skin. Is the yellow fluid a sign of infection?
Mon, 12 Jun 2017
Hello,
The yellow liquid is from blisters that are created on the surface of the skin due to big swelling in the region. These blisters develop few days after the ankle fracture and are a sign that you should wait a little more until they dry up and swelling goes down and then do the surgery.
Sometimes these blisters are red color or hemorrhagic. The doctor can aspirate the liquid with sterile syringe and leave the leg uncovered from cast or bandage, so it dries in the air. So, this is not infection but if you were my patient I would give you antibiotics to prevent infection. Also, your son should keep the leg up and move the toes all the time to get the swelling down.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Edvin Selamni
The yellow liquid is from blisters that are created on the surface of the skin due to big swelling in the region. These blisters develop few days after the ankle fracture and are a sign that you should wait a little more until they dry up and swelling goes down and then do the surgery.
Sometimes these blisters are red color or hemorrhagic. The doctor can aspirate the liquid with sterile syringe and leave the leg uncovered from cast or bandage, so it dries in the air. So, this is not infection but if you were my patient I would give you antibiotics to prevent infection. Also, your son should keep the leg up and move the toes all the time to get the swelling down.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Edvin Selamni
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