PODIATRIST DISCUSSES TIGER WOOD'S INJURY

Tiger Woods required what his doctors called a lengthy surgery to repair significant injuries to his right leg after his car rolled over outside Los Angeles. “The more concern I have is with the ankle and the foot,” says Zach Barnett, DPM, expert in sports and trauma medicine. Reports indicate wood’s leg suffered comminuted open factures, meaning the bones broke in more than two places and broke through the skin. But surprisingly, Dr. Barnett believes they are recoverable injuries. “They ended up putting a rod that goes inside canal of the tibia and that generally does an excellent job of stabilizing that bone and getting those fractures to heal.” But Dr. Barnett, who specializes in foot and ankle surgery, said news that Woods had to have his ankle stabilized with screws and pins is concerning.

 

Dr. Zach Barnett

 

“The problem with the foot is there are 28 bones in the foot, and they all work together, and if some of those fractures involved the joints, you really can develop early onset arthritis.” Dr. Barnett says for a golfer, pain and restriction in the foot and ankle can impact their game because a golf swing involves making an internal and external rotation of the leg. “The ankle and the foot really work together for motion, so if he loses some of that motion either from arthritis or fusions, it can impact the swing.” Dr. Barnett thinks at a minimum, Woods will likely be sidelined for up to 6 to 8 months.

Source: Amanda Dukes, wesh.com [2/25/21] 

Courtesy of Barry Block, editor of PM News