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After the post-season revelation that Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix had played since Week 12 against the Las Vegas Raiders with transverse process back fractures, many fans have asked, what exactly is a transverse process fracture?
In a 9News report, health expert Dr. Payal Kohli broke down the injury.
“(The transverse process) was a tough one to learn in medical school, but if you think about our spine, it’s a bunch of bones that are stacked up, right?” Dr. Kohli said, via MSN. “Those are vertebrae. And then there’s the little pointy thing (in the middle) coming off of it. That’s the spinous process… The transverse process is the one that’s kind of like the arms coming off the stacked bones. …
“If you fracture (the transverse process), usually the mechanism of the fracture is a high — like a sports injury — high collision, either fall backwards or something hitting your back that can fracture this. Well, and it’s funny because this is the most commonly missed fracture by radiologists. If you get an X-ray of your spine, sometimes because you’re looking at it kind of head-on, you can actually miss this fracture.”
Moses Suli suffered a spinal fracture after copping a knee to his lower back last week. Common mechanism for a spinous/transverse process fracture. Poses little to no threat of spinal cord/nerve injury. Often referred to as pain tolerance issue, usual return to play: 3-5 weeks pic.twitter.com/KJKeJHdxvZ
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) April 7, 2021
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Dr. Kohli said people describe the injury as “some of the worst pain,” but there’s no long-term sequela, and surgery is rarely needed.
When asked how long the recovery from this injury could take, the doctor provided some good news. “Six to eight weeks (recovery time),” Dr. Kohli said. “That’s the good news. It heals pretty quickly, assuming you don’t injure it again, or do anything else to cause damage to it again, it can heal quickly.”
You can watch the entire segment here.
So, Bo Nix, if you’re reading this, please take it easy until at least the draft!