Brady's knee injury worse; Pats upset?

[Roy Hobbs]

Doctors are aggressively fighting an infection in Tom Brady's surgically repaired left knee.

Brady recently acknowledged on his Web site that doctors went in "to clean and to test the wound" on Oct. 15 because of the infection. The New England Patriots quarterback has had two more similar procedures since then.

The story was first reported by the Boston Herald and confirmed by ESPN's Wendi Nix.

The Patriots, as an organization, are upset with the situation because they were clear that they wanted Brady's surgery done under the direction of doctors of their choosing in Boston, sources told ESPN.

Instead, Brady opted to have the surgery in California by a doctor his family preferred, and now there are major problems. Brady was supposed to be back in New England by now, but a timeline for his return remains unclear.

A person close to Brady told ESPN: "Tom is looking at months, not weeks, to fix this."

According to the Herald, Brady is on a six-week course of intravenously administered antibiotics, and is still having follow-up exams at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, where the surgery took place.

If the infection is not brought under control, the patellar tendon graft used to replace Brady's anterior cruciate ligament could become compromised, according to the Herald's report. If that happens, he will have to undergo another surgery on the ACL. That would reset the clock on his rehabilitation.

Link.

[crownsy]

Doctors are aggressively fighting an infection in Tom Brady's surgically repaired left knee.

Brady recently acknowledged on his Web site that doctors went in "to clean and to test the wound" on Oct. 15 because of the infection. The New England Patriots quarterback has had two more similar procedures since then.

The story was first reported by the Boston Herald and confirmed by ESPN's Wendi Nix.

The Patriots, as an organization, are upset with the situation because they were clear that they wanted Brady's surgery done under the direction of doctors of their choosing in Boston, sources told ESPN.

Instead, Brady opted to have the surgery in California by a doctor his family preferred, and now there are major problems. Brady was supposed to be back in New England by now, but a timeline for his return remains unclear.

A person close to Brady told ESPN: "Tom is looking at months, not weeks, to fix this."

According to the Herald, Brady is on a six-week course of intravenously administered antibiotics, and is still having follow-up exams at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, where the surgery took place.

If the infection is not brought under control, the patellar tendon graft used to replace Brady's anterior cruciate ligament could become compromised, according to the Herald's report. If that happens, he will have to undergo another surgery on the ACL. That would reset the clock on his rehabilitation.

Link.

I'd be ticked too if i was the team. you're investing 100 million in the guys knee, and (supposedly) they wanted andrews to do the reconstruction, and instead the brady's choose a respected surgen, but not one of the best (like andrews, though its still unconfirmed he was the choice of the pats)

and now the less reputable guy has let infection become a problem. (ussualy the result of lackadasical care with outside contamination on instruments)

[davemonsterband]

I'm a Lions fan, this discussion makes me ill.

[Emperor Young]

Why was the surgery done in CA??

[crownsy]

Why was the surgery done in CA??

because tom decided he wanted to go to his family's surgen, and the brady's live in CALI.

[Redz]

email from my Dad's friend (an orthopedic surgeon)

This could be the end of his career.  Knee joints are rapidly destroyed in the presence of infection, especially with a foreign material present (patellar tendon graft to replace the ACL).  It all depends on how rapidly they recognized it and how soon and how aggressively it was treated.  Even under the best of circumstances it might not be sufficient.  Keep your fingers crossed.

[yall hate]

One of the sports writers made a good point.  The pats are notoriously quite about leaking anything to the media.  but we are supposed to believe that in this instance, with absolutely nothing to gain from it, someone in the organization decided to come out and say they were upset with Tom. 

I dont think so.  His knee injury is worse then hoped, no doubt, but the notion that the pats are upset about it and leaked it to the press is laughable.

[yall hate]

I'd be ticked too if i was the team. you're investing 100 million in the guys knee, and (supposedly) they wanted andrews to do the reconstruction, and instead the brady's choose a respected surgen, but not one of the best (like andrews, though its still unconfirmed he was the choice of the pats)

and now the less reputable guy has let infection become a problem. (ussualy the result of lackadasical care with outside contamination on instruments)

less reputable is a bit much.  Sure Andrews is a name well known by sports fans, but the surgeon who did brady's surgery wrote the book.  litterally.

The surgery will be performed by Dr. Neal S. ElAttrache of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles. ElAttrache is the director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship program at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic and literally wrote the book on Surgical Techniques in Sports Medicine. 
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?ATH=Neal+S.+Elattrache

[Roy Hobbs]

email from my Dad's friend (an orthopedic surgeon)

This could be the end of his career.  Knee joints are rapidly destroyed in the presence of infection, especially with a foreign material present (patellar tendon graft to replace the ACL).  It all depends on how rapidly they recognized it and how soon and how aggressively it was treated.  Even under the best of circumstances it might not be sufficient.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Ouch.

[nickagneta]

I just spoke with a friend of mine who is an orthopedic surgeon and he said that Dr. Neal S. ElAttrache is one of the best orthopedic surgeons around and that the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles is easily one of the best orthopedic specialty hospitals in the western USA.

Infections are a common side effect of any surgery. Remember Peyton Manning was just having fluid removed from his knee and it got severely infected to the point where he was constantly taking intravenous antibiotics.

Let's not denigrate a great doctor or facility simply because Brady happened to get a common side effect of the surgery which could very well be the fault of many things including Brady himself for getting the area wet or scratching at it.

I hope and pray everything turns out okay, but remember people, these things happen sometimes.

[BballTim]

email from my Dad's friend (an orthopedic surgeon)

This could be the end of his career.  Knee joints are rapidly destroyed in the presence of infection, especially with a foreign material present (patellar tendon graft to replace the ACL).  It all depends on how rapidly they recognized it and how soon and how aggressively it was treated.  Even under the best of circumstances it might not be sufficient.  Keep your fingers crossed.

  My wife, who's a nurse and, IMO, somewhat of a medical pessimist, also used the term "career ending" this morning.

[yall hate]

From what I have read and heard from doctors on the various sports shows, the talk of career ending is way overblown.  from what I understand, the worst case scenario at this point is that the infection compromises the tendon, forcing the surgeon to go in, remove the tendon which was placed there and essentially starting over.  modern medicine is pretty amazing, it isnt like they need a tendon of his as they can use a tendon from a cadaver. 

[guava_wrench]

I'd be ticked too if i was the team. you're investing 100 million in the guys knee, and (supposedly) they wanted andrews to do the reconstruction, and instead the brady's choose a respected surgen, but not one of the best (like andrews, though its still unconfirmed he was the choice of the pats)

and now the less reputable guy has let infection become a problem. (ussualy the result of lackadasical care with outside contamination on instruments)

less reputable is a bit much.  Sure Andrews is a name well known by sports fans, but the surgeon who did brady's surgery wrote the book.  litterally.

The surgery will be performed by Dr. Neal S. ElAttrache of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles. ElAttrache is the director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship program at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic and literally wrote the book on Surgical Techniques in Sports Medicine. 
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?ATH=Neal+S.+Elattrache

Maybe he should stick to writing. ;-)

I'm conflicted. I don't wish Brady any long-term damage, but it would be nice to see him miss 2009 also.

[Amir]

I am not ready to see my all time favorite NFL player leave the game of football. I mean, really? Why cant things just go back to how they were?

[ma11l]

This story isn't helping his holier than thou opinion in my eyes.  He should've gone where the team told him too, which just so happens to be the best hospital in the world.


That being said, I do have a love hate relationship with him.  The love part occurring when he's on the field, so I hope these complications aren't as bad as some are saying they might be.