What happened to Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitski? How soon will he be back on the field after hip surgery?
By Dr. Shane Jay Nho from Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush:
Troy Tulowitski has a torn hip labrum and underwent hip arthroscopy. Hip labral tears are common among high-level athletes due to an underlying bony deformity called femoroacetabular impingement. These deformities can cause shear stress on the cartilage and labrum until the labrum tears and becomes painful.
Treatment Options:
The treatment requires hip arthroscopy to repair the torn labrum and remove the areas of bony deformities to improve the movement of the hip joint. Although the surgery is performed on an outpatient basis, the recovery and rehabilitation time differ depending on what is found and what is performed at the time of surgery. Generally, recovery after hip arthroscopy is about 6 months after surgery. It can be longer or shorter depending on the injury and patient.
In Troy’s case, he will not return until the spring season, but most studies to date do report a high return-to-sport. Those athletes who are able to return-to-sport are able to do so at the same level of competition. We do expect that he will recover and be ready in time to play in 2015.
Dr. Nho is originally from the northern suburbs and a graduate from Northwestern University. He
enrolled in the MD/MS program at Rush Medical College and the Graduate College of Rush University. He completed his surgical internship at New York Presbyterian Hospital of Weill Cornell Medical College and a residency in orthopaedic surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. He returned to the Chicago area to complete a fellowship in sports medicine at Rush University Medical Center. He was the recipient of the Herodicus Society Traveling Fellowship and has trained with hip arthroscopists and hip joint preservation surgeons from the United States and Switzerland.
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