Micro-fracture Surgery No Sure Fix

If you’re a Blazers fan, the news that Greg Oden will miss the season after knee surgery is bad enough – unfortunately and unbelievably, it could get even worse.

The procedure the rookie phenom had done to his balky right knee is known as micro-fracture surgery, a process that involves stimulating knee cartilage growth by creating tiny fractures in the bones adjacent to the area of concern. To put it in terms any normal basketball fan cares about, it’s the same surgery Amare Stoudemire had before the ’05 season. It took the youthful Suns forward nearly a year and a half to get back to form…and he is widely considered the most successful case in the short history of the procedure.

About a dozen other players from several different sports have gone under the knife for the very same method of correction and few have seen as positive a result. Jason Kidd, John Stockton and Zach Randolph belong in the small, albeit growing, group of athletes whose professional careers have stared down micro-fracture surgery and lived to tell about it.

Some, like Chris Webber, admittedly needed years to regain their pre-injury form, while still others never again found the game that had once made them some of the world’s best. Brian Grant, one-time max-contract New York Knicks shooting guard Allan Houston, and the inspiration for Lil Penny himself, Anfernee Hardaway, all found themselves in the latter group. Jamal Mashburn and Terrell Brandon never even made it back on the court and were forced to retire.

Micro-fracture surgery hasn’t only made its presence felt on the hardwood - it has failed several athletes on the gridiron as well. Courtney Brown, the former Penn State standout defensive end and number one overall pick by the Cleveland Browns in the 2000 NFL draft, is seriously considering retirement after being released earlier this year by the Denver Broncos when he failed his team physical.

After a solid rookie campaign during which he totaled 70 tackles and 4.5 sacks, the former All-American lasted only five games into his second season before hurting his knee. Even after micro-fracture surgery Brown was never the same. The 29-year old is now left wondering if his NFL career is over before it ever really started.

A more established NFLer, two-time Super Bowl winner Terrell Davis, didn’t rush for another yard after the procedure that many consider a last-ditch effort to salvage one’s career.

Oden may still become the franchise savior that Blazers fans are seeking, but if his recovery starts to drag out, or his effectiveness is limited upon his return, the grumbling about Sam Bowie and the debacle of the ’84 draft will not be far behind.

Could it really happen again to the “City of Roses?” I really hope not.

Micro-fracture surgery is not the culprit - in most cases it is a player’s final attempt at an already failing comeback. However, it’s also clearly not the easy fix that we have come to expect from an ACL procedure or Tommy John surgery. Sure, those procedures take some time to come back from, but a full recovery is all but certain. Micro-fracture surgery, on the other hand, only has a success rate of around 75% percent.

I hope his recovery goes the way of Amare and not Anfernee.