Thought some would find this interesting on the recovery and various options for the surgery. I found it interesting that 85% or the surgeries are successful, I and probably a lot of others thought the success rate was higher.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Good article... thanks for posting...
Something they don't talk about - and I wish the reporter would have asked or researched - is the importance of the experience of the surgeon and how that may impact the success rate.
Yocum and Andrews have both done thousands of these - and their rate is 85%. What is the rate of the guy who has done it three times in his career? I suspect much lower.
Thanks for sharing, BOF. As many know, my son had the TJ procedure on July 30, 2012. A childhood friend of his had the procedure completed July 9, 2012, exactly three weeks earlier in the same facility and by the same surgeon. My kid received the ligament from his right (throwing) forearm, and his friend's came directly from his hamstring. They're both in the 7-8 month rehab time frame. My son hasn't spoken with his buddy in the last two months, so he's not sure how his rehabilitation is going? I do know that after five months my son was ahead of him in the recovery process, but it's a long road and things change...that's evident when you read the LA Times article that BOF attached.
In regards to the 85% success rate, many hurdles contribute to that number and I would think that the number one is the rehab/recovery process. Setbacks occur to the best of players; you can work your tail off in rehab, but if your arm isn't ready for the next phase in the process you must take a step back and listen to your body....it's a marathon, not a sprint.
These are two different people and there will be two different recoveries. One is 26 and the other is 32, and you can't tell me that has nothing to do with it.
Son had his ulnar nerve moved, they said he would be fine in 3 months, he also had an elbow cleanout. The recovery took much longer than anyone anticipated.
Surgery is surgery, FWIW, my opinion is that most guys who have surgery (any type) late in their careers just don't fully recover.
I agree that the age of the player and number of miles put on an arm make a big difference in recovery time tables, and that was mentioned in the article. With that said, there are players regardless of their age that tend to heal much faster. In my example, both players (my son & friend) were two way players in HS and the same age...the biggest difference is where their surgeon took the ligament from.
My son had his ulnar moved as well when the TJ surgery was performed. The fact that he's had prior issues with his UCL in the past suggests to me that he'll take longer in his recovery. It's frustrating to him, and I'm not gonna lie, for me too...but patience is important, and I'll continue to preach the marathon speech to him and me.
I certainly can't argue the fact that it takes longer for older ballplayers to return from surgery, in fact, that can be said to all of us as we age...athletes and arm-chair QB's a like. 