G/F Evan "The Villain" Turner (2010 Naismith Winner)

[Steve19]

If you don't know what this fracture means, a transverse process fracture refers to those small projections on the vertebrae:

(link)

Transverse process fracture

Transverse process fractures are not serious injuries in the long-term although they are very painful in the short-term (similar to a broken rib).

Andrew Johns of Newcastle suffered 3 transverse process fractures in the 2002 NRL finals and with this injury it appeared Newcastle's chances of defending their NRL title evaporated.

 

[Meyer]

Ahhhhhhhhhh mannnn that looks like it hurts like hell..

Get well soon Evan.

 

[Steve19]

I am very sorry to see this happen to Evan Turner. I think he was on his way to a possible player of the year performance. Thank God, it is a relatively minor injury in the scheme of things without long-term consequences.

Get well soon, Evan. We'll all be thinking good thoughts for you.

If you coach high school kids or have your own kids, make sure that they realize the consequences of these sky-high dunks.

 

[LitlBuck]

I am very sorry to see this happen to Evan Turner. I think he was on his way to a possible player of the year performance. Thank God, it is a relatively minor injury in the scheme of things without long-term consequences.

Get well soon, Evan. We'll all be thinking good thoughts for you.

If you coach high school kids or have your own kids, make sure that they realize the consequences of these sky-high dunks.

I was thinking the same thing when Lighty tried one of his throwdown dunks earlier in the game. I wish sometimes the guys would just lay the ball in like I have to do

For what it is worth, I did not stand in a Holiday Inn Express last night but I do know someone who knows backs and the two vertebrae that he broke really gives the spinal cord stability so for an athlete like Turner 8 weeks might be a little optimistic. Perhaps Steve19 could amplify on this.

 

[Steve19]

Sorry, but I am not a doctor, my wife is though. Of course, no doctor would comment who hasn't seen his scans and examined him.

Maybe this helps. People differ in that some have four and others six lumbar vertebrae.

The transverse processes are long and slender. They are horizontal in the upper three lumbar vertebrae and incline a little upward in the lower two.

In the upper three vertebrae they arise from the junctions of the pedicles and laminae, but in the lower two they are set farther forward and spring from the pedicles and posterior parts of the vertebral bodies. They are situated in front of the articular processes instead of behind them as in the thoracic vertebrae, and are homologous with the ribs.(link)

Bone: Lumbar vertebrae

A typical lumbar vertebra

Vertebral column.
The injury is right where you would expect, if you watch the video of the fall. I am heartened because they missed the fractures the first time and then found them the second time. So, it seems they may be minor.

One among us who is a medical doctor could let us know what this means in terms of recovery. It looks to me like this connects to some muscle tissue connected to bending, jumping, and running. Also, this appears to be very painful.

So, does this imply that he will be unable to train during much of his recovery?

 

[LitlBuck]

My wife is not a physician either but she has probably seen more bad backs because of the nature of her employment than the majority of orthopedic guys out there. She does not think that Turner will be able to do anything for 8 weeks because these vertebrae stabilize the spinal column and serve as an attachment for muscles in the back and you do not want to take the chance of breaking the vertebrae any further. They probably missed the breaks initially because they probably have not done a MRI and were waiting for those results. I guess we shall see.

 

[Steve19]

My wife is not a physician either but she has probably seen more bad backs because of the nature of her employment than the majority of orthopedic guys out there. She does not think that Turner will be able to do anything for 8 weeks because these vertebrae stabilize the spinal column and serve as an attachment for muscles in the back and you do not want to take the chance of breaking the vertebrae any further. They probably missed the breaks initially because they probably have not done a MRI and were waiting for those results. I guess we shall see.

Looking though the press clippings again, I think that sounds pretty right. X-rays did not pick it up but the MRI did. That's still news with a silver lining. At least the transverse processes are not fractured so badly they are off. Sounds like it could be somewhat less severe that it might have been.

 

[Buckskin86]

OSU men's basketball: Turner's recovery expected
Monday, December 7, 2009
By Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Evan Turner is "down but not out" and should be able to play again at the level he was if he has a normal recovery from the lower back fracture he suffered Saturday, the athletic trainer for the Ohio State men's basketball team said yesterday.

"It should not affect him being able to play at the level he was," said Vince O'Brien, who treated Turner after the junior guard was injured during the first half of the Buckeyes' game against Eastern Michigan in Value City Arena.

Turner was averaging a team-best 20.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game for the No. 15 Buckeyes and was being touted as an early front-runner for national player of the year and a top-five NBA draft pick in 2010.

He suffered a transverse process fracture of his second and third lumbar vertebrae when his hands slipped off the rim after a missed dunk and he fell flat on his back from about 7 feet in the air.

O'Brien said Turner has some pain and is taking medication for it but is able to walk and has no limitations on his normal everyday routine. He has a brace available to wear as needed for comfort, but he is not required to wear it more than that.

O'Brien said Saturday that the prognosis for recovery is eight weeks, which is Jan.30. In that case, Turner would miss 13 games, starting with one at No. 23 Butler on Saturday. He would miss eight Big Ten games, five on the road.

"Eight weeks is (the) best educated (estimate of a) time frame," O'Brien said. "All patients are different, so it could be longer."

OSU men's basketball: Turner's recovery expected | BuckeyeXtra

 

[mendensa]

Hoping for a speedy recovery for Evan. I think the Bucks can make up for the scoring he provided if their outside shooting continues. Diebler, Simmons and PJ need to continue to stay within themselves and take the open shots when they present themselves. But what worries me the most is the 10+ boards he was ripping down from the PG position. On an already poor rebounding team, we will killed on the glass come big 10 play. Its more than just the overall number of rebounds, its the put-backs, 2nd chance points, increased time on the defensive end, and fewer offensive possessions. Tough loss and @ the toughest stretch of the schedule as well.

 

[BrutusBobcat]

Tough loss and @ the toughest stretch of the schedule as well.

As long as he can come back by the end of January, I don't think it sets this team back too badly. Yes, there might be 2-3 losses in there that we'll be saying "coulda, woulda", but the really big deals are the late game against MSU, home against Purdue, the conference tournament and of course the NCAA.

Even with Evan, we're looking at a team that's a three seed at best and possibly a six at worst, I'd say four if I'd had to take a WAG at it. I don't think a couple of more conference losses are going to make that big of a difference, maybe putting us more in the 4-6 range, now. The important thing is having a healthy ET well before March. If he has a full month of basketball to get back into condition and into the game, he should be at 100% for when it counts. This team is fully capable of winning the B10 tournament and advancing pretty deep into March, with the right bracket and matchups (and Turner, of course).

If anything, this is going to make the team stronger. PJ will get a lot more time than he would have had, and should be able to prove that he can spell Turner at the point more than Matta seemed interested in using him so far. Simmons will get to establish himself as a significant sixth man, and everyone will have to pick up their rebounding.

That's all the silver lining I have. The whole deal sucks, but I still have faith in this year's team.

 

[DZ83CK]

I wouldn't say that December 5-Feb 5 is the toughest stretch in the schedule! OSU has only one more tough game (this Sat @ Butler) before opening Big Ten play 12/31, and I would argue that December is the softest month in the entire OSU basketball schedule, so even though January is tough, December balances it out. If he can play in February & March, that's when he's needed most! Hopefully he will get healthy & play again this season - after the "6-8 week" Lighty injury that projected him back in mid-Feb ended his season, I'm not putting much weight in the OSU doctor estimates!!! If he isn't able to get fully recovered and play, hopefully OSU will have him next year!

 

[corwinator3407]

Terrible. Speedy recovery to Evan.

 

[DZ83CK]

I certainly wish Evan a speedy and thorough recovery as well.

An article that I saw posted at Bucknuts -
PFATS: Articles: Recovering From Multiple Surgeries: A Case Study
has really piqued my interest. Especially the part that says this:
"A previous study showed that players with one transverse process fracture missed an average of 16 days, two levels of fractures missed an average of 19 days, and three levels of fracture missed an average of 36 days."
The study they cited was published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine in 1995, but it pertained to pro football players who I think it's fair to say are expected to play with more pain than college basketball players. But if I read this
Buckeyes' fortunes turn with a thud | BuckeyeXtra
correctly when it says
"tests at OSU Medical Center revealed a transverse process fracture on Turner's second and third lumbar vertebrae"
that is a fracture at two levels, for which the recovery time in this 1995 football study was ON AVERAGE 19 days. Obviously, that's far less than 8 weeks, but certainly David Lighty took longer than average to recover from his injury, so I guess it's not out of the realm of possibility that it would take that long or even longer. I won't be holding my breath in hoping that Evan comes back by the start of Big Ten play, but I also am holding out hope for a faster recovery than 8 weeks. From my further reading/research, it appears that the transverse process is not a weight-bearing part of the spine - from what I understand, its role is to connect muscles/ligaments, so that bodes well for ET's recovery, or so I think. Now Lighty similarly seemed unfazed by his injury after the game and we all saw how long it took for him to come back, but his injury was to a weightbearing part of the body and he had to wear a boot for a while. ET doesn't even have to wear anything unless he feels he needs to - he has a brace he can wear for comfort but doesn't even have to wear it - does that sound like something that takes 8 weeks to recover from?

 

[LitlBuck]

does that sound like something that takes 8 weeks to recover from?

You might want to read Steve19 and my posts that are above. Both of us think he will be very fortunate to come back in 8 weeks. Sometimes when you wear a brace or any orthopedic device that gives you support it sometimes detours rather than helps the healing process. It almost gives that area a false sense of support and the muscles around that area catch on to that.

 

[Steve19]

I guess the issue is, how bad are those fractures?