Injury Report: Ryan Suter (Lower-Body Injury, Out for Season)

thestonedkoala

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You might want to check your math

Four months with the surgery happening in April would put him out around August and then probably September before he starts skating again. There could be some set backs. But he isn't coming back at the start of the season unless they pump him full of steroids. Mid-season around January would be a good time table, so they don't rush him and make his injury worse.
 

TaLoN

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Apparently the time table for Suter is going to be LONG. He can't put any weight on his ankle for 4 months. We're looking probably at mid-season next year before Suter is ready.
No, he'll be back by the season, just means training camp time may be missed. He's on the long end of the recovery table, which is 6 weeks to 6 months. 6 months means he's back by the start of next season, but maybe not by training camp.
Suter is aiming for the start of the season. Knowing him, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to pull that off.
Of course he will try, it's well within the typical recovery scale. It would take an unforeseen complication to make him miss according to the injury type and projected recovery times for said injury.
 

Wabit

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Suter will be back when he's back. Nothing I can do about it, so I'm not too concerned about it.
 

Wild11MN

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Very unlikely though.
Still, crazy to know it's actually a possibility.

Maybe Suter and Parise will both live the last 6 years of their contracts on LTIR. :laugh: THAT would be crazy.

I know that's not happening, thankfully.
 

TaLoN

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Still, crazy to know it's actually a possibility.

Maybe Suter and Parise will both live the last 6 years of their contracts on LTIR. :laugh: THAT would be crazy.

I know that's not happening, thankfully.
Not crazy at all imo, every injury you can say the exact same thing if you want to. The chances are high for some and very low in others, this one falls in the very low category for such an occurrence.

Imo it's more crazy to think that the chances are even remotely a concern in this case.
 

Wild11MN

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Not crazy at all imo, every injury you can say the exact same thing if you want to. The chances are high for some and very low in others, this one falls in the very low category for such an occurrence.

Imo it's more crazy to think that the chances are even remotely a concern in this case.
I don't really think anyone is too concerned. It sounds more concerning than something like a torn ACL, though, where many players go through it and successfully return in many sports every year. I think it's the rarity of the injury that puts this one in a different light.

The Bridgewater injury was an example of a much more concerning injury than this, though obviously they were completely different.
 

thestonedkoala

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No, he'll be back by the season, just means training camp time may be missed. He's on the long end of the recovery table, which is 6 weeks to 6 months. 6 months means he's back by the start of next season, but maybe not by training camp.

Suter fractured his talus bone in his ankle, but we don't know the significance of the injury yet (and probably won't until they complete the surgery).

The talus is also a unique bone as over one-half it is covered with cartilage that provides cushion and allows bones to move more freely against each other. The talus moves not only at the ankle joint but also below the ankle at the subtalar joint and in the midfoot at the talonavicular joint.

The recovery from a talus fracture is lengthy because until the bone is healed, you cannot place weight on the extremity. Therefore, most talus fractures require a minimum of eight to 12 weeks of protection from weight-bearing. In more significant injuries, the time may be longer. Studies have shown that the ultimate outcome of patients correlates well with the extent of the initial injury.
After your ankle has fused properly, you can start a rehab program of physical therapy to regain range of motion, stability, and strength in the ankle joint.
You may have to use a cane or wear a special boot and may not be able to put your full weight on your foot for two to three months.
Only time will tell if a patient is going to develop arthritis or osteonecrosis, therefore, your doctor will obtain periodic x-rays to determine the health of the bone, and the adequacy of healing.

What Are Talus Fractures and Why Do They Occur?

I've seen up to 4 months of healing. Surgery in April...if all goes right, maybe June or July. If there is complications, maybe more down the road. The scary thing is, Suter mentioned if he was in any other sport, this would be a career-ending injury. I don't know why hockey isn't up there. Maybe not as much movement in the ankle/leg as in other sports. But it's a significant injury. The Wild have never been really good at recoveries (see Parise). Rushing Suter back from this injury to meet the time table of the start of the season (October) would be folly and really that isn't that long of a period. 6-7 months. Getting him well rested and ready for the next half of the season would be an incredible boon for the Wild.
 

Dr Jan Itor

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4 months from now is early/mid August. An extra 2 months (just to be safe) would be early/mid October. Season will probably start sometime from October 5th to the 10th. So we're talking about a week or two of 2018-19 games missed, and that's on the conservative side.

I'm not too worried.
 

Wild11MN

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I thought the article said that he can't even put any weight on his ankle for 4 months. That's crazy.
 

nickschultzfan

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And will have two full months of physical therapy before the season starts. No real concern.
Not sure where you are getting the optimism. Mid-season if he even makes it back at all. Take a listen to latest Russo-Souhan podcast. No timelines but seriousness of injury discussed at length.
 
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2Pair

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I will be absolutely shocked if Suter isn't in the lineup on opening night next fall.
 
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Wild11MN

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There were some really interesting quotes from the Suter story in the Athletic earlier this week.

"Ryan, this was the worst ankle injury I’d ever seen."
'I'm almost there': A day on the comeback trail with Ryan...
The problem was the broken talus, which wasn’t discovered until Monday. A break there and some don’t ever regain mobility in their ankle, the doctors told Suter. And, they added, there was no sure way to do surgery. Only a handful of doctors in the country work on that area, and there’s no definite way to fix it. You can insert screws into every part of the break, the most common solution, he was told, but that can wear down the tissue and increase the risk of ending your career. Or you can only insert three screws, leaving as much tissue as possible for a recovery, he was told, but there’s no certainty that it’ll heal quickly.
A few weeks after the surgery, he returned to Green Bay for a follow-up session and had X-rays taken, the first chance to really see how the surgery had gone. Anderson looked at the results wide-eyed. “It’s a miracle,” he said to Suter.
Suter looked on confused.
“So then he says again, ‘It’s a miracle what it looks like now,’” Suter said.
He asked what the doctor meant by that.
“And he goes, ‘Ryan, this was the worst ankle injury I’d ever seen.’ But he hadn’t told me that before,” Suter said. “And he goes, ‘It’s a miracle that it looks like this right now.’ That’s when it really hit me how bad it was.”
 
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Minnesnota

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Lets hope Suter doesn't get Avascular Necrosis:

With unstable talus fractures, the blood supply to the bone can be disrupted at the time of the injury. Sometimes, the blood supply simply returns to the bone and normal healing begins. In other cases, however, the bone cells die without a blood supply, leading to a gradual and very painful collapse of the bone. This condition is called avascular necrosis (AVN) or osteonecrosis with collapse.

When the bone collapses, the articular cartilage covering the bone also collapses. Without this smooth cartilage, bone rubs against bone, leading to increased pain, arthritis and loss of motion and function. The more severe the talus fracture, the more likely it is that AVN will occur. Even fractures that are treated appropriately, including those that are treated surgically, may develop AVN.

Or Posttraumatic Arthritis:

Posttraumatic arthritis is a type of arthritis that develops after an injury. Even when your bones heal normally, the cartilage protecting the bones can be damaged, leading to pain and stiffness over time. The majority of talus fractures result in some degree of posttraumatic arthritis. In cases of extreme arthritis that limits activity, additional surgery, such as a joint fusion or ankle replacement, may be the best option to relieve symptoms.
 

Dickie Dunn

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Having your doctor look at you absolutely dumbfounded as to why your situation turned out so well is a pretty freaky thing. It stays with you for a while. Here is to hoping that Suter is not only doing well but believes he is doing well. It can take time to get the confidence back.
 

Uberdachen

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Lets hope Suter doesn't get Avascular Necrosis:

Or Posttraumatic Arthritis:

Those names are way too fancy for Suter. If there's no more mumps in his well, I could see him throwing some overalls on gout or dropsy, maaaybe putting his Sunday best on mule toes or hog trots.

I could also see him going the Rookie of the Year route if Funkybuttlovinitis didn't have such an exotic name.
 

Puhis

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Those names are way too fancy for Suter. If there's no more mumps in his well, I could see him throwing some overalls on gout or dropsy, maaaybe putting his Sunday best on mule toes or hog trots.

I could also see him going the Rookie of the Year route if Funkybuttlovinitis didn't have such an exotic name.

I can't believe you omitted Valille Menéevituix.
 
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Nsjohnson

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Lets hope Suter doesn't get Avascular Necrosis:



Or Posttraumatic Arthritis:

AVN would have already been recognized. Now, early arthritis from irregular joint movement and friction after a major injury is common- think even mid grade AC injuries. A person is more likely to have joint problem (degenerative arthritis, tendonosis) at that joint after that because the AC ligaments have been stretched and now there is more irregular joint movement occurring.

In Suter's case, it'll be a bit of how well the surgery went, how things set after the surgery, and how the forces act upon his joint. Even if the joint started to get irritated in it's movement and have inflammation develop there, it would probably take some time for it to become a big problem, especially seeing as hockey is not a high impact game on the foot joint nor does it demand tons of range of motion- it's in a boot.

We'll see how it plays out.
 

SupremeNachos

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Dec 6, 2011
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Even with how advanced these surgeries are these days they still don't beat Father time. ACL/MCL and UCL surgeries have gotten to the point where most people can come back almost 100% within a year, but seem to encounter things like arthritis sooner than average. I've had work done on both my knees in my teens and early 20s and I'm already starting to feel it.
 

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