more microfracture

[elindholm]

Kenyon Martin had microfracture surgery this summer. (This is from an article in today's Denver Post, quoted by hoopshype.) He was already playing again at the start of this season, but now his knee is "very sore" and he is sitting out.

 

[Ollie]

Looks like he came back too early, but he had surgery 6 months ago, so that's pretty puzzling and that worries me for Amare.

On the other side, Zach Randolph seems totally healthy now (and he had surgery last March or April IIRC: 7-8 months recovery).

 

[elindholm]

I guess the only real conclusion to draw is that every case is different.

 

[scotsman13]

yea look at penny he should have never come back on the court. while kj did it after the playoffs one year and was back and playing for the preseason.

 

[Tank]

Matt Harpring had it too, and he is playing limited minutes (~20) but the docs will not clear him to play on back to back nights.

 

[boisesuns]

Has anyone seen in blazers games to see how Randolph is moving/jumping?
Amare's game will have to change if he can't jump, and loses quickness.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Has anyone seen in blazers games to see how Randolph is moving/jumping?
Amare's game will have to change if he can't jump, and loses quickness.

zach's game was never really predicated on his athleticism anyway, so the surgery wouldn't have as large an impact on his game as it would have on amare's.

 

[hsandhu]

Well randolph hasn't seemed to miss a beat (however he did have 6 whole months to recover). On the other hand, his lesion was bigger than amare's 1.2 cm vs. 1, and the injury as a whole was a little more serious. That coupled with the info in today's republic are all good news.

I'm pretty confident this will not effect amare's greatness in the long run, however i'm not so sure what he will be like if he comes back say mid march.

 

[panfolk]

zach's game was never really predicated on his athleticism anyway, so the surgery wouldn't have as large an impact on his game as it would have on amare's.

That's a kind way of putting it

 

[baltimorer]

As far as the whole "so-and-so's game wasn't really predicated on athleticism," I don't really buy it. Tom Gugliota's game wasn't really based on his athleticism, but his knee injury was obviously still disastrous to his game. Now, his injury, formally known as the Randy Livingston Syndrome (RLS) was arguably the worst knee injury in sports history, but it doesn't matter. NBA Basketball players might not need to be super-athletic, but if you can't move on the court, you won't be effective.

Microfracture surgery seems to be one of the dumbest surgeries out there. It seems irresponsible to me that Suns doctors basically say, "OK, we're going to go in there and do a little scope of the knee." Then they administer the anestesia, perform surgery, and when the player wakes up, they say, "oh, by the way, we went in there and effectively ended your career."

 

[elindholm]

It seems irresponsible to me that Suns doctors basically say, "OK, we're going to go in there and do a little scope of the knee." Then they administer the anestesia, perform surgery, and when the player wakes up, they say, "oh, by the way, we went in there and effectively ended your career."

It would indeed have been very strange if that had happened.

 

[moose]

Microfracture surgery seems to be one of the dumbest surgeries out there. It seems irresponsible to me that Suns doctors basically say, "OK, we're going to go in there and do a little scope of the knee." Then they administer the anestesia, perform surgery, and when the player wakes up, they say, "oh, by the way, we went in there and effectively ended your career."

Amare knew going in that it was very likely that microfracture surgery would be needed. In fact his agent was in the room while Amare was having the surgery.

 

[Dr. Dumas]

As far as the whole "so-and-so's game wasn't really predicated on athleticism," I don't really buy it. Tom Gugliota's game wasn't really based on his athleticism, but his knee injury was obviously still disastrous to his game. Now, his injury, formally known as the Randy Livingston Syndrome (RLS) was arguably the worst knee injury in sports history, but it doesn't matter. NBA Basketball players might not need to be super-athletic, but if you can't move on the court, you won't be effective.

Microfracture surgery seems to be one of the dumbest surgeries out there. It seems irresponsible to me that Suns doctors basically say, "OK, we're going to go in there and do a little scope of the knee." Then they administer the anestesia, perform surgery, and when the player wakes up, they say, "oh, by the way, we went in there and effectively ended your career."

wow-Is this what you think happened?

 

[nowagimp]

Amare knew going in that it was very likely that microfracture surgery would be needed. In fact his agent was in the room while Amare was having the surgery.

I think that Amare knew and that the damage done by coupling the exploratory surgery with the microfracture procedure was less than the damage that would be done by 2 separate surgeries at the same site.

 

[Chaz]

As far as the whole "so-and-so's game wasn't really predicated on athleticism," I don't really buy it. Tom Gugliota's game wasn't really based on his athleticism, but his knee injury was obviously still disastrous to his game. Now, his injury, formally known as the Randy Livingston Syndrome (RLS) was arguably the worst knee injury in sports history, but it doesn't matter. NBA Basketball players might not need to be super-athletic, but if you can't move on the court, you won't be effective.

Microfracture surgery seems to be one of the dumbest surgeries out there. It seems irresponsible to me that Suns doctors basically say, "OK, we're going to go in there and do a little scope of the knee." Then they administer the anestesia, perform surgery, and when the player wakes up, they say, "oh, by the way, we went in there and effectively ended your career."

To compare what happened to Gugliotta with Amare's surgery is just stupidity.

Gugliotta's knee was completely destroyed and had to be rebuilt.

Amare had a healthy knee with a 1 cm defect that was causing discomfort.

The are not the same at all.

 

[KANIDJA]

Amare was on radio tonight. Just said that his knee is better than it was supposed to be so far. Wearing tennis shoes, has no pain at all. They asked him what he thought when O'Neal said that he would like to start building a team Amere would be the center piece...Amare said that he appreciates it very much because Shaq has been throwing it down for a long time, got championship...and that he didin't even get his feet wet yet.
Also, he said that you can't compare him to some other people that had microfractures because most people wait until they are 26 27 and by then knee is damaged far more.

Just good to hear from him.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

That is good news.

I think that most of us all realized that the guy is just an athletic freak - and there was a good chance he would recover better than most.

It is nice to hear it officially at this point though (both from him and his doc)!

 

[jandaman]

no matter how you look at it, 4 months is too soon. And that 4 month timeline is basically the period which he can began practicing and standing/running on the knee... I would assume Amare will be out the whole season, and IF the suns can make the playoffs he'd barely be ready by then. I dont think the suns will risk it and Amare sure wouldnt, next season he'd be 100%, meaning he can run and jump without pain.

If Kmart is "feeling" the aftermath effects 6 months after, Amare will most likely be in pain 4 months... the "seriousness" of the lesion doesnt factor as much because its the condition of the knee and reconditioning of the joint that takes time.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

no matter how you look at it, 4 months is too soon.

How can you say that no matter what 4 months is too soon? I mean there really isn't any way to know that until we get close to that timeframe. These 4-6 month recovery timeframes are simply meant as guidelines based on other people's recovery time.

You say the size of the legion doesn't matter much, but what does matter is the healing ability of each individual person.


If Amare needs to take the whole season to feel comfortable out there, then by all means he needs to take that time. But if he feels comfortable, and the doctor feels comfortable after 4 months - why should he wait it out longer?

 

[jandaman]

If he comes back in four months its most likely he'd be similar to Kmart and Randolph, playing 8-10 minutes and getting soreness or swellness, the doctors cleared them too.


Im saying Amare will not be the same beast in 4 months, it'd be good to see him play but the lack of bounce and strength on the knee can lead to other injuries due to him putting more pressure on other areas of his leg (mainly his other knee).

Most players who suffer any joint injuries do not get full strength and motion 4 months after operation. Of course in the interview he'd say its going well, thats the only thing to say, he wont say any other things other than what the fans want to hear.

 

[KANIDJA]

All he said is that he is already doing better than expected. That doesn't mean that he is not going to hit a bump somewhere along the way. I don't think anyone can realistically expect that he will be back and fully recovered this year. Even if he comes back his minutes will be light. Any surgery requires a long healing process, especially micro...
Where is the confusion?