Question:
Does anyone else still have staples deep inside?

I just had a x-ray at another doctors office and it showed up with dozens of staples deep inside my incision. I'm 15 months post-op and was so shocked to see them in the x-ray. Is this normal and do you know if they are made of something that will dissolve in time?    — kkubinski99 (posted on October 12, 2004)

October 12, 2004
I don't think they dissolve. I believe my doctor told me they were made of titanium. Apparently they are made of the same material that is used in artifical joints. Don't know for sure though since I'm not in a medical field.
   — scbabe

October 12, 2004
Were these from WLS or plastics? The RNY stomach staples are definetely there forever and usually titanium. They can be detected by the wand type airport screening devices, but dont show up on the archway type we walk thru.
   — bob-haller

October 13, 2004
The staples are there to stay. I had a spinal fusion in 1996. I have to have xrays and an MRI every year to see how it is doing. When they did the surgery the moved some of my veins and arteries and stapled them off to the side. They are still staple where they were put, and the staples are nice and noticable on an xray. I had a doctor as me one time if I could make it through a metal detector without it going off, with all the metal in my body. They are no big thing to worry about.
   — Mini Gadget

October 13, 2004
they are there to stay, I have them where my gallbladder used to be too!
   — **willow**