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Thread: A doctor's take on Bell, LisFranc injury

  1. #1
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    A doctor's take on Bell, LisFranc injury

    From draft sharks:
    Draft Sharks <updates@draftsharks.com> wrote:


    A Doctor's Take on Le'Veon Bell

    


    ** When to draft Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell will be a hot topic in fantasy drafts this weekend.* We wanna make sure you’re armed with as much information as possible when making that decision.* So here’s an expert opinion from DS in-house Dr. Sam Carter.

    Draft Sharks Insiders can also check out where Bell sits in our updated RB rankings.

    *

    A Doctor’s Take on Le’Veon Bell

    Dr. Sam Carter is an orthopaedic surgeon in Louisville, Kentucky specializing in arthroscopy and sports medicine.

    *

    If you follow the NFL closely, then you have heard the term Lisfranc injury a lot the past few years.* Over the last 2 years alone, there have been many high profile players that have been diagnosed with a Lisfranc: Cedric Benson, Santonio Holmes, Ryan Kalil, Maurice Jones-Drew, Darren McFadden and Matt Schaub all have missed time from this particular foot injury.* If you're like me and pulled off a sweet trade in your rookie draft to nab Le'Veon Bell, you are probably feeling a little nervous right now as he is suspected to also have a Lisfranc injury.*

    So what is a Lisfranc injury and why is it so bad for an NFL RB?* It is an injury to one of the tarso-metatarsal joints, also called Lisfranc’s joint.* This joint connects the metatarsal bones, the long bones in the foot, to the tarsal bones, the smaller bones in the mid-foot.* These bones are connected by strong ligaments that help to support the arch of the foot during weight bearing.* If the ligaments are stretched or torn, then the foot may become unstable which initially causes pain, but can also lead to long-term arthritis and degenerative changes in the small joints of the mid-foot if the ligaments aren’t allowed to heal properly.* Severe injuries may involve fractures of the bones in addition to the ligament injury.* The injury usually occurs with a twisting force or torque on the foot when it is planted and the ankle is plantarflexed (tip-toe position).*

    A Lisfranc injury is considered a very serious foot injury due to the potential devastating long-term effects if not treated properly or if the injury is missed.* It can be seen in high energy trauma such as motorcycle or car accidents, but it is seen much more frequently now in high-speed sports such as football.* This is due mostly to the nature of the sport, which involves planting and twisting on the foot in cleats and the high likelihood of the foot being stepped on or fallen on during play while the foot is planted and flexed in this vulnerable position.

    If the injury is mild and the ligaments are only sprained or partially torn, then treatment consists of a period of immobilization (sometimes 8 weeks or more) in a boot or cast and non-weight bearing with crutches.* This allows the ligaments to heal and restores the stability of the midfoot joint.* If the injury is more severe and the joints are out of place on X-ray or if there are fractures involved, then surgery is usually performed to stabilize the joints with temporary pins or screws to allow the ligaments to heal in the proper positions.* Very severe cases involve joint fusion and permanent screws or plates.

    These strong ligaments are crucial to stabilize the foot during the high push-off and cutting forces generated in football.* For athletes, a Lisfranc injury can be a season-ending injury.* However, with proper treatment the athlete can make a full recovery.* The injuries that occur in sports are usually at the opposite end of the spectrum as those that are seen in high-energy trauma, and the outcomes are generally much better.* A Lisfranc injury is like any other ligament sprain in that there can be very different degrees of severity of injury, so the return to play is very hard to predict.*

    What does this mean specifically for Le'Veon Bell?* The latest news out of Pittsburgh is that Bell's injury is not severe enough to require surgery immediately.* This is good news, but it doesn't guarantee that he won't miss the entire season.* In particular, MJD and Cedric Benson both failed conservative treatment and went on to have surgery later that ended their season.* If this truly is a Lisfranc sprain, I wouldn't expect to see Bell on the field for at least 6 weeks.* My gut feeling is that he will be out even longer, as the Steelers may be very conservative with the promising rookie.

    Bonus info:* Where does the weird name come from? The Lisfranc joint and Lisfranc ligament in the foot as well as the injury to these structures bear the name of Jacques Lisfranc, a French surgeon in Napoleon’s army in the early 1800s.* He is remembered for developing an amputation of the foot through this joint that could be performed quickly on soldiers in the field.* It was necessary for open injuries of the feet that occurred frequently when a soldier got a foot caught in the stirrup when being thrown or knocked from their horse.* Thankfully today the term Lisfranc refers to the ligament injury much more commonly than the amputation, since we can now save more feet with modern surgical techniques.


    We got our "6-PACK" - time to work on a CASE!

    HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

  2. #2
    Hall of Famer

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    To bad he wrote all that for nothing, when Bell don't have that injury.
    [url=http://img525.imageshack.us/i/steelers2010.jpg/]http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/2...eelers2010.jpg[/url]

  3. #3
    Legend

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    That's what I was thinking SH.

  4. #4
    Legend

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    Oh, ok. Last I read before going to work this weekend was on NFL that he *did* have one, now I see that after that Tomlin said he didn't.

    Yippee!


    We got our "6-PACK" - time to work on a CASE!

    HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

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