Wednesday Linkage: Greg Oden Injury Edition

Henry Abbott of TrueHoop talked to Stephania Bell, a physical therapist who is both a Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. She had the following analysis of Greg's injury:

The initial diagnosis of a midfoot sprain tells us that the injury is in the middle of the foot (of course), which is essentially the region between the base of the toes and the ankle.

This region is critical because it represents the arch of the foot. Forces are transferred from the rearfoot to the forefoot through the midfoot every time a player pushes off his foot to run and jump, and likewise in reverse when landing from a jump. The midfoot also has to absorb a lot of rotational or torsional stress when spinning or pivoting. Any injury to the midfoot can result in instability, which then means the area cannot absorb and distribute stress as well, and the player can't perform those movements without creating pain or increased injury.

The term "Lisfranc" is almost always associated with the more severe type of midfoot injury that we see, but really it describes the region of the foot that is involved. The name comes from a surgeon in Napoleon's army.

A sprain would indicate some injury to the ligaments that support the midfoot. The big issue comes down to the degree of sprain. If minor, meaning there is little visible disruption on MRI, it might mean resting a few games, wearing a protective boot to allow the tissue to heal, easing back into weight-bearing activity, then return to play, perhaps with something protective in the shoe.

If there is greater ligament damage or any instability, the rest time becomes longer. Can be up to about 12 weeks to allow the tissue to fully heal.

The most serious situation would be a Lisfranc fracture-dislocation.

In these instances the ligaments can be sprained badly enough that the bones separate, move out of position (the dislocation) and potentially crack or break (the fracture). This is a situation that most often requires surgical stabilization (pins and screws) to help restore the proper alignment and stability.

The athlete is then non-weight bearing for a while, sometimes up to six-to-eight weeks, and then it is a several-month process to resume normal weight bearing, then gradual increased activity and eventually sport.

In between, there is often a surgical procedure to remove some of the hardware, and the athlete may end up wearing a more rigid foot support in his shoe going forward.

With that said, Mike Barrett didn't seemed too worried last night:

The latest on this, as of late Tuesday night, is that's a mid-foot sprain, and he'll have it checked Wednesday. Doesn't sound too serious, and that's good news.

Sean Meagher at Oregon Live is reporting that the MRI was scheduled for noon today. The results should be in soon...

Ben at Blazers Edge had a good post with links and pictures pertaining to the injury.

With that, there's not much to do but wait and see what happens...

Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press