Report: Gronk to undergo back surgery

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chevss454 said:
<header class="entry-header"> Gronk’s surgery explained

<time class="entry-date" datetime="2016-12-02T15:24:45+00:00">December 2, 2016</time> Dr. Jessica Flynn Leave a comment
</header> Rob Gronkowski is going under the knife today for his third spine surgery. He is 27 years old. Fans understandably have questions and I’m going to try to answer them. These are the most common questions I’ve heard and read:
When did Gronk’s injury happen?

Yesterday as I was finishing up my office hours I was listening to Boston sports radio. All of the non-medical conjecturing about what happened drove me nuts. Did Gronk really get hurt on the Earl Thomas hit? Did the team force him back too soon (AGAIN) against the Jets? Was the Gronkowski family angry? It was like a bad episode of Grey’s Anatomy where none of the medical information made sense (FYI Scrubs was a much more accurate description of life as a doctor). I wrote down my thoughts on what most likely happened here and I’m pretty sure the Gronkowski family and the Patriots committed an act of plagiarism in their joint statement about what actually happened.
Gronk has had chronic low back issues for years. He had a disc herniation in college which caused pain, numbness and weakness in his legs and resulted in a microdiscectomy his junior year. Gronk continued to have some issues with his back after joining the Patriots and, during the 2013 season, since he was already missing time for a complicated forearm fracture, he decided to deal with his growing back pain by having a second microdiscectomy procedure on a different disc/level. Gronk has appeared to be in pain at multiple times this season, but up until recently it was manageable, as many chronic injuries are for active NFL players. Something changed acutely in the Jets game. I think it was when he layed out for Brady’s overthrown ball up the seam, others point to different plays. It doesn’t matter. Gronk’s disc issue likely went from a bulging disc that was manageable (only causing pain in his back) to a herniated disc that was pressing on nerves, causing pain in his legs. This “huge” change in symptoms corresponds to 1-2 millimeters in change of the disc. Gronk knew he couldn’t push through his pain any longer and that was when the decision was made to pull him from the Jets game and get an MRI. The MRI confirmed the disc herniation and nerve compression and he got on a flight to LA to have his third spine surgery with the world’s leading expert in microdiscectomies in athletes.
What is a microdiscectomy?

I wrote about spinal anatomy in pain-staking detail here, but it’s Friday and you probably have a lot of stuff to do so I’ll be more succinct. The spine is made up of bony building blocks called vertebrae (yellow on the drawing below). The vertebrae are separated by discs (in pink/purple). You can think of discs as being a lot like jelly donuts – more firm on the outside and jelly on the inside.
img_0632.png

The normal disc at the top of the drawing is thick and uniform and doesn’t bulge. As stresses are applied to the spine the disc can get injured and start to bulge backwards (see “bulging disc” in the drawing). This can cause pain in the back but often that pain is manageable. After repetitive trauma and, despite Gronk’s best efforts to strengthen his back and core and work on flexibility, the disc can bulge more and some of the soft jelly inside of the disc (the nucleus pulposus) can herniate. This often causes compression of nerves as they exit the spine a mere millimeter or so away which leads to numbness, pain, and weakness of the leg(s), a condition called “lumbar radiculopathy.”
Gronk’s procedure today is likely another microdiscectomy. In this minimally invasive procedure, the surgeon locates the small disc herniation and removes the part that is pressing on the nerve(s) to relieve pain and weakness in the legs. That’s really it – not much more to it. During recovery, the athtlete is asked to rest so that the shaved-down disc can scar over to prevent it from re-bulging. The recovery is usually 6-8 weeks before the player can start to work back onto the field. Athletes are not usually back to 100% until 10+ weeks, however. Chances are exceedingly slim that Gronk will make it back on the field this post-season.
What does this mean for Gronk’s future?

A third lumbar (low back) microdiscectomy at the age of 27 is not a good thing, especially if you are a physical tight end in the NFL. Gronk is an immensely talented football player – there is simply nobody like him. Sadly, he will probably not have a long NFL career. His previous 2 discectomies were said to be at different lumbar levels – if I had to guess, L5-S1 (the lowest level of the lumbar spine) and L4-5. If I had to make an educated guess about his most recent injury I would say that it is likely a re-injury to one of those discs . I say that because 95% of disc herniations are at L4/5 or L5/S1.
Once players start having multiple discectomies at the same level they develop new issues. As surgeons remove pieces of the disc that are pushing on the nerve, the disc gets thinner, similar to the “thinning disc” in the above diagram. As this occurs, the vertebrae (bones in yellow) get closer together. As they grow closer together they start to rub on each other. This rubbing causes a new pain in the back and ultimately leads to osteoarthritis in the spine (see discs labelled “disc degeneration with osteophyte formation” in the above drawing). After two or three discectomies of the same disc you can now understand that a good portion of the disc would be removed. This would lead to so much pain and arthritis in the low back that surgeons generally recommend a spinal fusion. Gronk does not seem to be at that point yet. He has had 2 surgeries at 2 different levels. Spinal fusion involves fusing or “gluing together” a few vertebrae so that there is no motion in the spine and therefore no stress on injured discs and arthritic joints in the low back. A tight end would not be able to play his position with a spinal fusion because he needs the flexibility in the low spine to effectively block and receive catches. Sadly, if Gronk gets to a point that he needs a fusion, his career as an NFL tight end will be over.
Ok, well now I feel depressed. This happy, go-lucky, talented-as-hell 27 year-old guy who loves to play football won’t be playing much longer. How much longer? Nobody can guess. I think we’re probably talking years but it’s impossible to know. I don’t believe the Patriots are going to trade him in the short-term because of this most recent injury. I’ve seen a lot of convincing arguments to the contrary, but I think the talent and locker room presence they have in Gronk outweighs his current market value. One thing is for sure, Gronk will have an immensely successful career after football but it’s nothing he’s even considering in his hospital room today.


https://docflynn.com/2016/12/02/gronks-surgery-explained/?iframe=true&theme_preview=true
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They left out the picture of a blown (herniated disc that ruptured and went a step or three past that) out disc... :coffee:
 
SkiptoMyLou said:
Ben Watson is surprisingly eloquent.
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It was a shame that he couldn't catch the ball better... :(

---------- Post added at 12:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:10 PM ----------
chevss454 said:
So Gronk had a microdiscectomy and NOT the spinal fusion. That's a very good thing. He should be good to go next year but the Pats will have to manage his practice and play time.

Miguel has detailed info on Gronk's contract here:
http://www.patsfans.com/salary-cap/2016/07/31/some-thoughts-on-extending-rob-gronkowski/

Also, think about this...
Rich Hill ‏<s>@</s>PP_Rich_Hill <small class="time"> </small> The <s>#</s>Patriots had a healthy Rob Gronkowski and healthy Martellus Bennett for just 4 minutes and 11 seconds of 2016, in Q1 vs the Browns.
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Fusion is about as far as you can go...and should only be the very last step.
 
Gronk just placed on I.R.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
 
Good, let him chill without trying to come back this year. With any luck, we get to see tb be "stafford without megatron", stats with and without gronk notwithstanding. i think it will be ok, tb brought them back to win the nyj game sans gronk, and no planning.
 
PatsFanLisa said:
But what do I know.
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More than me. But who doesn't? I just sit back and trust Bill and believe that:

More likely than not, he has a clue.

Not saying he's always right. He's not. Not saying it's wrong to criticize or disagree with him. It isn't. Just saying, even when it seems wrong to me, I assume, as standard operating procedure, that it's me who's wrong. And i pray that I'm right (about being wrong that is). :coffee:


Cheers, BostonTim
 
chevss454 said:
No, it's there. "Herniated Disc"
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It's a little confusing, but, there must be grades of herniated discs...

What makes it even more confusing, is you can research different articles and get a different answer every time. Same thing by asking surgeons the same question.

No matter what it is...it's painful.

http://recomparison.com/comparisons/101086/bulging-disc-vs-herniated-disc-vs-ruptured-disc/

Bulging disc is the term used to refer to an injured disc in the spine in which the protrusion is less than 3mm.

A herniated disc is a similar condition in which the disc protrudes as well, although the annular fibers still exert some holding power on the disc's nucleus.

Ruptured disc is another name for a herniated disc, although it is most often used to refer to a condition that results from injury or trauma.
 
PatsFanLisa said:
D.J. Foster promoted to the 53. One might have thought TE Matt Lengel would have gotten the nod.

But what do I know.
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AFAIK, Lengel's been on the team for over a month now. We don't have any TEs on the practice squad to move up. They had a guy (Backman) for a couple of days, but cut him yesterday.
 
Reasons why the Pats are unlikely to trade Gronk:

stat.......w/Gronk.....w/o Gronk
compl %.......65.6......57.7
yard/att........7.9..........6.5
TD/INT..........4.8..........2.5
QB Rating...104.8........84.7
 
spacecrime said:
Reasons why the Pats are unlikely to trade Gronk:

stat.......w/Gronk.....w/o Gronk
compl %.......65.6......57.7
yard/att........7.9..........6.5
TD/INT..........4.8..........2.5
QB Rating...104.8........84.7
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Yeah. I don't see a trade. The Pats have Gronk right where they want him. He is coming off his third back surgery therefore they keep him on his current deal which is a bargain as a "prove you can stay healthy" and we will think about giving you more money. They can basically get an impactful player (assuming Gronk comes back healthy) on the cheap which as we know is the Patriots way. They have all the leverage here with Gronk still having 3 years left on his deal. They are in the proverbial catbird seat with the best TE in the league.
 
Even without Gronk this is the deepest offense Brady's ever had; four solid receivers (Amendola, Edelman, Hogan, Mitchell), a pounding back (Blount), shifty and/or pass-catching backs (White, Lewis), they still have Bennett, they barely use Develin and Bolden... Clearly with Foster they're going more smallball dink-and-dunk. Probably lots of three-WR sets (with the emergence of Mitchell) and two-RB sets (with the return of Lewis and promotion of Foster). Makes sense to de-emphasize the TE since the only one left (Bennett) is banged-up.

As for trading Gronk, it's not happening. Although he's one of the GOAT at his position, he's having health issues because he plays balls to the wall. So who would really give them anything for him? Better to keep him and hope he comes back to form.
 
JD10367 said:
As for trading Gronk, it's not happening. Although he's one of the GOAT at his position, he's having health issues because he plays balls to the wall. So who would really give them anything for him? Better to keep him and hope he comes back to form.
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Interesting. We both agree that he won't be traded, but for opposite reasons.
 
JD10367 said:
Even without Gronk this is the deepest offense Brady's ever had; four solid receivers (Amendola, Edelman, Hogan, Mitchell), a pounding back (Blount), shifty and/or pass-catching backs (White, Lewis), they still have Bennett, they barely use Develin and Bolden... Clearly with Foster they're going more smallball dink-and-dunk. Probably lots of three-WR sets (with the emergence of Mitchell) and two-RB sets (with the return of Lewis and promotion of Foster). Makes sense to de-emphasize the TE since the only one left (Bennett) is banged-up.

As for trading Gronk, it's not happening. Although he's one of the GOAT at his position, he's having health issues because he plays balls to the wall. So who would really give them anything for him? Better to keep him and hope he comes back to form.
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BB should put him on the shelf until the middle of the year...since he rarely plays for the whole year. :coffee:
 
Look guys this sucks but we will still rally and get to the SB. The Denver game is gonna be hard now and a close game. I'm hoping Bennett is healthy because Denvers weakness is RBs and TEs
 
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