Tiger Woods is likely to face a long recovery after his near-fatal car accident in Los Angeles this week, experts said.
Dr. Anish Mahajan, medical director and interim executive director at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, described “significant injuries to Woods in his lower right extremity” in a statement published on the golfer’s account on Wednesday.
Mahajan said the injuries were treated “during emergency surgery by orthopedic trauma specialists”. Woods suffered “open fractures that affected the upper and lower portions of the tibia and bones of the fibula”, which had to be stabilized by inserting a rod into his tibia.
He added that the additional bone injuries to his foot and ankle were “stabilized with a combination of screws and pins. Trauma to the muscle and soft tissues of the leg required surgical release of the muscle cover to relieve pressure due to swelling.”
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A vehicle toppled sideways after an accident involving golfer Tiger Woods along a road in Rancho Palos Verdes, a suburb of Los Angeles, on Tuesday, February 23, 2021. Woods suffered leg injuries in the car accident and was being operated on. authorities and their manager said. (AP Photo / Ringo HW Chiu)
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Dr. William Stetson, a surgeon on the US men’s and women’s volleyball team who is not treating Woods, told KABC-TV in Los Angeles that Woods’ recovery is likely to be a slow process.
“Typically, with injuries like this, patients cannot carry any weight for the first four to six weeks,” he said. “You probably won’t be able to put a total amount of weight on it until maybe three months after the surgery.”
And he said it would probably take between nine months to a year “for or any decent recovery from an injury like that”.
He added that the infection is the main concern because Woods had an “open” fracture, which means that the bone has broken the skin, and the player will likely have to undergo additional surgery in the coming months to avoid it.
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Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kenneth Jung of the Kerlan-Jobe Institute and is not involved in treating Woods, told the Los Angeles Times that injuries to his right foot are common in accidents like Woods’ because the driver is trying to brake with his right foot while the left is turned to the side.
He said that if Woods injured the Lisfranc joint complex in the middle of the foot, which is common in car accidents, it could lead to arthritis.
“It would increase my concern not just about golf, but about advancing life,” he told the Times. “This would manifest itself as pain and stiffness in the joints of the foot.”
Dr. Gregory Tennant, another orthopedic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente, agreed that Woods would probably not be “standing and walking around”, especially since he recently had back surgery before the accident.
“Trauma is never really an isolated event,” said Tennant. “It is not uncommon to identify injuries – even significant injuries – days later, as the initial high-energy injuries are treated.”
Stetson said he saw other elite athletes compete again after serious injuries and would not rule out Woods.
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“He has a long, long, long way to go and so I would like to ask everyone to be patient with him and say a few prayers for him,” he told KABC. “We want him to go back to his great game of golf and a great life.”