Break a Leg!

American middleweight Chris Weidman suffered a gruesome right leg fracture just 17 seconds into his match in the Octagon. He was rushed to the hospital where it was determined he would require surgery to repair the fractured tibia and fibula. Surgery was performed successfully! The questions remain…will he be able to make a comeback? How long will his rehab last?

A fracture occurs when the force exerted is greater than the amount of the force the bone can handle. If the bone that is fractured is not displaced it may or may not be treated conservatively. Bone healing has many stages:

Stage 1: Inflammatory Phase

This stage begins immediately following the fracture. The blood vessels supplying the bone are ruptured during the fracture, causing a hematoma to form around the fracture site. The hematoma clots, and forms the temporary scaffolding for subsequent healing.

Stage 2: Reparative Phase

During this phase, the body develops cartilage and tissue in and around the fracture site.The tissue forms a soft collar at the broken ends of the bones, and the tissue grows until the two ends meet. These growths stabilize the fracture. Over the following weeks, a bony callus made of spongy bone will replace the tissue callus.

Stage 3: Bone remodeling

At this stage, solid bone replaces spongy bone, completing the healing process.

For Chris Weidman, there will be a long road ahead to recovery. He will require extensive rehab and conditioning to bring him back to the Octagon. We here at Brucato Foot and Ankle wish Chris a speedy recovery!

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