MrTibbs

http://www.mcmillenandwife.com/


POSTED 11:57 p.m. EDT, June 12, 2006

ROETHLISBERGER NOT A LOCK TO PLAY IN 2006

Although there's optimism in Pittsburgh on Monday night after seven hours of surgery to repair "multiple" facial fractures, there's still no guarantee that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will be able to play football in 2006.

Dr. Michael Kaner, a Pennsylvania dentist and long-time PFT reader, has shared with us some general observations regarding Roethlisberger's potential prognosis. Dr. Kaner has emphasized this his input is hypothetical only, and that he has no information regarding the signal-caller's actual condition.

Dr. Kaner says to keep an ear out for the term "Le Fort" in connection with Roethliberger's facial fractures.

"Le Fort fractures (1,2 or 3) refer to the level of fracture of the upper jaw separating it from the skull," said Dr. Kaner. "If those words are mentioned in any press conference, he's not playing in 2006 regardless of what anybody says."

Dr. Kaner outlined other questions that would be relevant to determining whether Roethlisberger can play this year.

"How many fractures are there and where are they? Obviously, the more fractures there are, the longer the recovery period and the greater risk of complications.

"Is the fracture displaced, that is out of the normal alignment. With the extent of the trauma he experienced, it would not be out of the realm of possibility for the oral surgeons to have to rebuild his jaw and wire it together with titanium plates or screws. If it's a multiple fracture, he could be out all year.

"The other question is whether he fractured his upper jaw. You traditionally think of the lower jaw as being fractured but there can be fractures to the upper jaw, with many complications.

"Is the fracture closed (totally under the skin) or open (bone exposed to the elements substantially increasing the risk of post-operative infection). His other risks are of other teeth needing root canals or if fractured themselves, needing to be extracted.

"While wired shut, he will be on a pure liquid diet, and how will that impact a pro athlete? Not positively I'm sure."

Another source with knowledge of jaw and facial injuries has broken the issue down to a single question. If Roethsliberger's jaw is merely wired shut, he'll miss 6-to-8 weeks. If he has had plates or other hardware inserted into his face, he'll miss a minimum of six months.

As of now, the doctors, the family, and the team know the answer. Within the next 24 hours, our guess is that the rest of us will know it, too.

MrTibbs

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/...67/detail.html


"PITTSBURGH -- Doctors who operated on Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger at Mercy Hospital said all of his fractures have been successfully repaired.

Roethlisberger underwent seven hours of surgery after a motorcycle crash near the 10th Street Bridge on Monday morning. He remained in serious but stable condition on Tuesday morning.

According to a police source, Roethlisberger suffered a broken jaw, broke his left sinus cavity, suffered a 9-inch laceration to the back of his head, lost many teeth and has injuries to his knees from hitting the pavement.

Dr. Daniel Pituch, who led the team that operated on Roethlisberger, said the patient's brain, spine, chest and abdomen all look OK."

spacecrime

Here's been out of surgery for about 15 hours. It might be a tad early to try to predict whether he will be playing in December or not.

Drewwho

This is killing me...how can anyone say he will be ready for camp or not. NFL Network and ESPN are completely jumping the gun. The Steelers statements is not about Ben recovering as a QB but they were 'encouraged' in his recovery as a human!

Let the kid walk, stand up - for all any one knows he may have incurred serious equilibrum damage and could loose his balance for the rest of his life. Surgery can not detect these things. Also, what about his eye sight. A blow like that could cause severe issues with sight and he could have blurred vision for the rest of his foreseeable life-I doubt he has had an eye exam!

The reporting on this has been very irresponsible. The only thing that matter is he will live and he will recover as an average citizen. NO ONE KNOWS if he will recover as a NFL QB...not yet and probably not for months from now.