01
November
2019
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19:32 PM
America/New_York

Hand surgeon explains why Stephen Curry will be out so long

SF Examiner reports Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry underwent surgery to repair a broken second metacarpal in his left hand.

SF Examiner spoke to Daniel A. Osei, MD, MSc, hand and upper extremity surgeon at HSS, who has not treated Curry, about the recovery and repair for this type of injury. While Curry’s injured hand is not his dominant shooting hand, defense mechanisms are a concern. “It’s all the other stuff - the defending, the swatting of balls, the landing on your hand again, and frankly, trying to make sure that you don’t re-injure the area,” explained Dr. Osei. “At three months, I will say that most of these fractures go from, ‘It’s healed, but you could reinjure yourself,’ to healed enough that you basically can’t.”

Regarding methods for surgical repair (plates versus screws), Dr. Osei noted this is dependent on the pattern of the fracture. “Plates are used because they’re a little bit stronger, so it allows for more initial strength, so basically, you can get somebody back a little bit faster.” Dr. Osei added, “Screws are great because they’re more low-profile, and may not bother someone as much, because you can’t feel screws as much as you can feel a plate, but the downside is that they’re not as strong, so the chance of re-injury is a little bit higher. Really, it’s a combination of the location, the pattern of the injury and issues related to how quickly you’re trying to get a guy back,” he said.

Read the article at SFexaminer.com.

Additional coverage: SFexaminer.com, Forbes.com