According to USA Today, Louisville basketball player Kevin Ware underwent successful surgery Sunday night to repair the gruesome open fracture of his right tibia he suffered during the Cardinals’ 85-63 win over Duke in the Midwest Regional final, and he is expected to remain in Indianapolis until at least Tuesday, Louisville announced.
Ware had the bone reset, and a rod was inserted into his leg during the operation that lasted about two hours. The wound caused by the bone puncturing through his skin in his lower leg was closed.
Louisville’s late-night release said no timetable for recovery has been set, but the early prognosis from sports medicine director Fred Hina – given right after the game while Ware was in surgery – was that Ware is bound for a lengthy recovery, but the injury is not likely a career-ending one.
Hina was part of the team that stabilized Ware’s injury on the court as he was removed on a stretcher.
Ware is hopeful he can return to Louisville after Tuesday, then join the Cardinals as they advance to the Final Four in Atlanta, his hometown.
Hina said Ware’s recovery time would be based on the nature of the hardware that was inserted in his leg.
Hina likened the injury to the season-ending fracture suffered by former Louisville running back Michael Bush in the 2006 season.
Bush recovered to be chosen in the next year’s NFL draft and currently plays for the Chicago Bears.
Hina said he’s seen similar severe fractures, but there’s no getting used to seeing injuries so gruesome.
An open fracture could have been caused simply by the amount of force and the angle at which Ware landed after leaping to challenge a Duke shot, Roberts said.
Roberts said open fractures of this sort would be treated by intravenous antibiotics and surgery to implant a metal rod within eight hours of the injury. He added that Methodist Hospital “has a very strong group of orthopedic surgeons.”
In such an injury, Roberts said that in the “best-case scenario,” a patient would begin to show signs of healing within 8-12 weeks. “With … physical therapy, top-notch rehab, he may actually be doing quite well by three months or so,” he said. “From there, it’s a matter of muscle rehabilitation, strengthening, sport-specific rehab.”
Information from USA Today and the Louisville Courier-Journal contributed to this report.
