Tua's Injury
- Thread starter NoNC4Tubs
- Start date
There are no words...it renders the game meaningless. The young man is strong. He will be back. It may not be at BDS but he will be back.
Let me say this, of course of this is all speculation, but my posterior plateau was fractured also. It was cracked only. This happens frequently in auto accidents, when the knee is driven into the dash, with the force of deceleration and the weight of the driver and/or passenger behind the impact. Frequently, the acetabular plateau is only cracked, as mine was in my ladder fall. This force is very great - tons per square inch. In Tua's case there were two tacklers plus Tua's weight, plus the height of the fall. All this together wouldn't equal that of an automobile accident, or, perhaps as in my case, a fall from 14'. All this to say that, the acetabulae being robust bones, there's a good chance the fracture is a crack, rather than the bone being frankly broken apart. After my fracture, I ran many thousands of miles for three decades. So there's at least a chance that his career won't be affected...
Let's just hope not too much bone or soft tissue, not the vasculature, and not the sciatic nerve. There are also other things to worry about beyond the musculoskeletal as well, potentially. Early reduction does greatly reduce risk for AN. That would have been done pretty quickly, but there's still a risk (maybe around 5% under good circumstances). That is assuming no direct vascular injury. Still a lot we don't know at this point.Unfortunately, some soft tissue is always involved. Necrosis of the trocantor is pretty much a crap shoot - hard to predict. In my case, Bo's injury actually happened not that long after mine. After I was dxed with the crack in the back of the socket, I went back to my orthopedist and asked if perhaps we should take another x-ray of my trocantor. He agreed and they took regular x-rays for a couple of years. If the bone starts to die, as in Bo's case, it turns chalk white, instead of normal gray. I dodged that, but the cartilage damage over a period of years caused deterioration and an eventual replacement, when they saw off the trocantor, the head of the femur, anyway. On a light note, a couple of years after the replacement, the nurse of a new family doctor, noting my age, asked if I'd had a bone scan lately. I answered that I'd had something better. Bristling a bit, she asked what was better than a bone scan. I said that, when they sawed off the head of my femur, the surgeon had held it in his hands and, later, said that my bones were in excellent shape for my age...
You had the best bone scan available!
One thing to keep in mind is that there are some really unathletic quarterbacks in the NFL. Tom Brady's 40 time was 5.28!
So, I guess the question isn't if he's as mobile as he used to be. Honestly that was kind of a weakness because he ran when he should have protected himself. The question is just if he can be healthy enough for robust physical activity. I sure hope so, and may be he can transition into an NFL QB that stays in the pocket. That's what he had to do anyway if he wanted any hope of a lengthy career.
I have been praying for Tua all year. I know he and his family are devastated, but they are also of strong faith. It is just so heartbreaking to see one of the best Bama players ever have this happen. I love his faith, leadership, and contributions to BAMA football. I hurt for him.
I hope this is not career ending for him.
I wonder what his parents think about it, him playing that extra 2 minute drive, etc.
I know Bama won the game, but it just doesn't feel like it right now.
I pray for the doctors and for Tua and for all of his family and the team. I know the "experts" and people on here are divided about him being in that last series. I personally think Saban should have taken him out after the 21 point lead. This will bother Saban for a long time (I think) even if he does not admit it publicly. It looked like he was about to tear up in is interview.
I hope this is not career ending for him.
I wonder what his parents think about it, him playing that extra 2 minute drive, etc.
I know Bama won the game, but it just doesn't feel like it right now.
I pray for the doctors and for Tua and for all of his family and the team. I know the "experts" and people on here are divided about him being in that last series. I personally think Saban should have taken him out after the 21 point lead. This will bother Saban for a long time (I think) even if he does not admit it publicly. It looked like he was about to tear up in is interview.
Yes. I was very happy to avoid AN. But, you're correct. There's no way to rule out direct vascular injury. That will emerge over the next several days. It's a matter of luck, unfortunately...Let's just hope not too much bone or soft tissue, not the vasculature, and not the sciatic nerve. There are also other things to worry about beyond the musculoskeletal as well, potentially. Early reduction does greatly reduce risk for AN. That would have been done pretty quickly, but there's still a risk (maybe around 5% under good circumstances). That is assuming no direct vascular injury. Still a lot we don't know at this point.
You had the best bone scan available!
Right - the earlier report of a "posterior wall fracture" is probably the best of these possible fractures.
So the posterior wall fracture is part of the socket? I didn't know. Not very familiar with these medical terms.
One benefit Tua does have with his talent is that he is not only a mobile quarterback. He has a very strong arm and is accurate on his throws, so even if this injury does slow him down some as far as being mobile goes he still has other advantages as far as talent goes.
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Yes - google it. It is the back wall of the "cup". Any transverse fracture would mean the end of his football career. This one he can probably make a full recovery from.
Of all the injuries that I have seen over the years in this or that game....I am not remembering an injury quite this devastating to a young man. He is going to be fine I am sure..but I do know it will be a slow go for him. Tua will, I think, make the very best of this.
Almost certainly not now, though long-term risk for osteoarthritis that would necessitate one in his later years is a substantial risk.
The procedure to fix this (if the injury is severe enough) is called ORIF, or open reduction and internal fixation. CT, CTA, MRI, and direct exam and visualization of the injury guide the treatment.
Earle is spot on with this. Saw many hip fractures & dislocations in my ER days. Sometimes it’s the dislocation you worry about the most. The area in and around the acetabulum and the femoral head are very vascular. With a hip dislocation you’re always about trauma to the vessel supplying that femoral head and the socket. My hope is they got the dislocation reduced in a timely fashion and blood flow wasn’t compromised.Let's just hope not too much bone or soft tissue, not the vasculature, and not the sciatic nerve. There are also other things to worry about beyond the musculoskeletal as well, potentially. Early reduction does greatly reduce risk for AN. That would have been done pretty quickly, but there's still a risk (maybe around 5% under good circumstances). That is assuming no direct vascular injury. Still a lot we don't know at this point.
You had the best bone scan available!
True. Mine healed up and allowed me to pursue an avocation as a distance runner and triathlete. OTOH, the doc with Andrews told me that, although the crack in the back of the acetabular socket healed up, the damage to the cartilage would not and that's what led to a hip replacement 25 years later. I'm sure Tua, at this stage of his life, would make this trade in a New York minute...
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