close
close

Doctor explains Detroit Lions DE's recovery

Posted on by Kennedy
Doctor explains Detroit Lions DE's recovery

play

The Detroit Lions eventually broke the Dallas Cowboys' winning streak, but as fans know by now, defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson broke his left leg during the game, specifically both bones below the knee, and underwent surgery to put them back together.

How long Hutch will be out caused speculation among fans, sports journalists and doctors.

Hutchinson underwent successful surgery to repair a fractured tibia and fibula Sunday evening at Baylor White Medical Center in Irving, Texas, the team announced Monday morning. He is expected to return to Detroit this week and make a full recovery.

“He’s in good hands right now,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said immediately after the game. “He is taken care of. He will stay here. Obviously he's going to be out for a while. This is tough, man. It’s hard to lose someone like him.”

Detroitlions.com, the team's official news source, described the injury as serious. Hutchinson sacked Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and collided with teammate Alim McNeill, which one expert believes was the cause of the break.

A sports medicine doctor who examined game videos described the injury as if Hutchinson had been struck in the shin with a bat and predicted that Hutchinson would likely have a metal rod in his leg to hold the broken fragments together and weld them back together.

Professor David Fausone of the Department of Physical Therapy at Oakland University's School of Health Sciences told the Free Press he expects Hutchinson will initially use crutches and that doctors and therapists will likely move the player more if there is swelling and pain subside.

They will work on range of motion and ultimately strengthening his leg, the professor said.

“They have not disclosed any details of the operation,” Fausone said. “But if the average person suffered an injury like this and had to undergo surgery and a rehab process, in my experience they would probably return to normal function in three to five months.”

Maybe less time for an athlete.

But Fausone said it's unlikely Hutchinson will return to the playoffs.

A good prognosis for recovery

Sportswriter Ian Rapoport, who focuses on the NFL, weighed in

And Dr. Christopher Cooke, an orthopedic surgeon at DMC Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, predicted Hutchinson could be back on the sidelines in one to two weeks with crutches and in four to six weeks without crutches.

Cooke, interviewed by WJBK-TV (Fox 2), said he has had patients with similar injuries start running again as early as 10 to 12 weeks. But the doctor said he has yet to get any athlete to fully resume sports activities in less than four to five months.

Cooke added: “You won’t find a better candidate” than Hutchinson to bounce back.

Soccer, a contact sport, is prone to injuries even when wearing significant protective equipment, in part because it is so physical and involves violent collisions with other players, high-speed movements, and sudden, jerky changes in direction.

Chicago-area orthopedic surgeon Benjamin Domb noted in his online blog that injuries range from muscle sprains and tears to broken bones to head and neck injuries.

In 1991, Detroit Lions player Mike Utley suffered a playing injury that resulted in paralysis. And last year, Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills collapsed on the field during a game in what was described as sudden cardiac arrest. He recovered and played football again.

Like a bat on the shin

Hutchinson was carted off the field. His leg was put in a cast and he then underwent surgery in Dallas.

Reports from the Lions indicated he would not be traveling back to Detroit with the team.

Dr. Brian Sutterer, a sports medicine physician at Southeast Health in Missouri who runs a YouTube channel, shared some of his thoughts on the injury in a video based on his expertise and what he saw during the broadcast.

From Sutterer's observation, it appears the defensive lineman was spun around and contact with a teammate's leg caused the injury. The momentum combined with the force caused the bone – and possibly both leg bones – to break.

There was no muscle in the area of ​​the hit leg that could absorb the blow, the doctor said, adding: “It's like taking a metal bat and hitting it straight into the shinbone, which ultimately results in a fracture.”

Sutterer said how the injury is treated will likely depend in part on whether the fracture went through the skin. Infection could be a cause for concern. It was likely, he said, that a rod would be inserted into the Hitchinson's leg to hold the broken pieces together.

The doctor said he believes it is a season-ending injury, but if all goes well, Hutchinson could be back next year and the injury is unlikely to impact the rest of his football career. And, he said, while a broken bone can be mentally challenging for a player, it can be easier to fix medically.

The cliche goes that adversity makes athletes stronger.

And a few years ago, Hutchinson's father, an emergency room physician and All-American defensive tackle at the University of Michigan, shared some thoughts about how the sport has helped him.

Chris Hutchinson initially signed with the Cleveland Browns, but after suffering complications from a tetanus shot in rookie camp, he studied medicine and gave an interesting insight in a UM article about his frontline work saving lives.

The “uncomfortable situations” on the gridiron helped him prepare for other challenges later, he said.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or [email protected].

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *