My fiancé broke her left ankle in a car accident a year ago. It was repaired and she has 2 screws on the interior side of her ankle. Over the last 5 months she has experienced random occurrences of moderate to severe swelling of her foot, ankle and even her leg below the knee. Sometimes the right leg does the same thing. Obviously she hasn't re injured herself, but we keep having the same issue repeatedly. We have even resorted to the ER on 2 occasions because of how much it was swollen and the pain associated with it. When we went to the orthopedic he performed an x-rays which showed the original break had healed perfectly and there didn't appear to be any other issue with the ankle or foot. He also ordered an MRI and that also showed nothing new. What's weird is that it just happens randomly. She's not doing anything strenuous that could possibly be aggravating the old injury. On top of that, the right leg is doing the same thing on occasion. The right side doesn't swell up every time the left one does, but when it does, it's just as severe as the left side. We're just trying to see if anyone else has ever had anything similar to this or if anyone may have a suggestion as to what might be the underlying cause. We're starting to become very concerned with this.

I would start with the metallic composition of the screws. Many people are allergic to every metal (nickel, stainless steel, synthetic compounds that dissolve), and the pins have to be replaced with titanium. Symptoms can vary widely, and doctors don't all seem to know how varied they can be, even though most are skin reactions at the site. But they can range to general fatigue and everything in between.
Re-pinning with titanium isn't so simple. It requires cleaning out of the tunnels and removing scar tissue.

However, given the swelling in the other leg sometimes, I have NO IDEA what is really going on! This is an online site where you can only get SUGGESTIONS. It's possible that her edema is totally unrelated to the actual accident and/or the screws. Perhaps she took tons of antibiotics? That can start a whole series of health problems, as I can attest to. My health went down hill, from teeth to gut to pain all over, things that mainstream medicine isn't interested in. You have to have something obvious and identifiable. She could try alternative medicine and nutrition. I didn't because I'm too lazy.

Realize that there are no doctors on this site, so any suggestions you get here are guesses, most just best guesses based on past experience, and not even really educated guesses.

Having said that, the fact that the other ankle also swells makes me think fluid retention. Does she have a job where she sits a lot? How much water does she drink every day? Is she physically active?

Just a guess, because I had something similar when I worked at a job where I sat 8 hours a day, then went home and had to stand for a few hours. I often had swollen painful ankles because of it. My doctor suggested elevating my legs at work (I put a box under my desk and rested my legs on it, alternating between elevating and having my feet on the floor), walking around during the work day, do stretching exercises during the work day, and most of all, cut out the coffee and tea, and drink more water.

Thank you both very much. Of course I understand the whole "educated guess" thing. We were just looking to see if anyone else has had anything similar and if so, what did they end up doing. I will mention the metallic composition thing to the orthopedic on our next visit. As far as over doing it, I don't believe that's the case. For the most part she's a "stay at home" fiancé. She volunteers some at salvation army, but that's only occasionally and she's on her feet most of that time. But this most recent occurrence was just out of the blue. No volunteering lately, just normal around the house stuff and sometimes we go for walks with the dog. I will be sure to pass this along to her, so thank you both so much!
Take care!

I have several screws, a plate, and some wire in my right ankle. Mine healed perfectly too. I play a ton of sports and sometimes my right foot and ankle will swell up like a football. I fill a big cooler with really hot water and Epsom salts and soak my ankle for about 30 minutes. That does the trick.

Complete blood work would be a good place to start. I am thinking of high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Doesn't quite describe blood clots, but they cause edema too. So does removal of lymph nodes during surgery.