Help me injure my character's leg

Christabelle · Feb 4, 2015

My character needs an injury to his leg that requires surgery (and hopefully some metal - screws, a plate, etc.). It needs to be something incurred from a bad football tackle (he plays quarterback), and he needs to be in surgery the next day rather than wait around. If it can mess up his knee and require additional surgery later, even better.

I've played around with ACL injuries, fractures, etc., but my betas want me to be more specific.

Lauram6123 · Feb 4, 2015

How bout a fractured tibia? He'd need a rod put in and it could possibly get infected and turn into a prolonged course that would necessitate further surgery (if you really want to nail him).

Maze Runner · Feb 4, 2015

My father broke his forearm bone in half. They put it back together with nuts and bolts and a large plate.

Taejang · Feb 4, 2015

Knee injury. Complicated and can often require multiple attempts to get it right. Getting him into surgery the next day is a little trickier, depending on the country. Even with a debilitating injury, the waiting list for certain procedures can be quite long. However, an injury that threatens a life or the loss of a limb will be treated quite quickly in most modern countries.

In America (which I assume is where this is, because football), the waiting list shouldn't be too long. If the injury is severe enough to risk losing his leg, he could be in surgery as soon as he arrives at the hospital.

cmhbob · Feb 4, 2015

Something that bad may well be career-ending, FWIW. But an ACL tear is pretty specific, and not at all uncommon.

http://blog.gameready.com/blog/bid/294589/The-8-Most-Common-Football-Injuries

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/meniscus-repair

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterior_cruciate_ligament_reconstruction

Christabelle · Feb 4, 2015

Lauram6123 said:
How bout a fractured tibia? He'd need a rod put in and it could possibly get infected and turn into a prolonged course that would necessitate further surgery (if you really want to nail him).

Taejang said:
Knee injury. Complicated and can often require multiple attempts to get it right. Getting him into surgery the next day is a little trickier, depending on the country. Even with a debilitating injury, the waiting list for certain procedures can be quite long. However, an injury that threatens a life or the loss of a limb will be treated quite quickly in most modern countries.

In America (which I assume is where this is, because football), the waiting list shouldn't be too long. If the injury is severe enough to risk losing his leg, he could be in surgery as soon as he arrives at the hospital.

I'm leaning toward a tibia fracture coupled with torn ligaments in his knee.

He is in the U.S. Maybe a trapped artery or nerve would necessitate urgent surgery? Does that sound reasonable?

Deb Kinnard · Feb 4, 2015

If you want screws, plates etc., I suggest making it a lower tibial/fibular fracture, just above the ankle joint. I saw one happen in soccer once--and diagnosed it by looking as they carried the unfortunate forward off the pitch. She ended with plates etc., but did play soccer again a year or so later, so it was a happy ending.

You might google "boot-top fracture" to see what one of these is like. Skiers tend to sustain them, hence the name.

Lauram6123 · Feb 4, 2015

Christabelle said:
I'm leaning toward a tibia fracture coupled with torn ligaments in his knee.

He is in the U.S. Maybe a trapped artery or nerve would necessitate urgent surgery? Does that sound reasonable?

Yes, you could have an arterial injury along with the fracture, but then the artery issue would become the acute injury. (They would have to deal with that before dealing with the fracture.) They may even have to have two separate surgeons and perhaps separate surgeries. That could go either way.

frimble3 · Feb 4, 2015

And, how big a name football-player is he? Could be that he's rushed to the head of the list, if it's a bad break and he's popular (locally at least).

Cyia · Feb 4, 2015

Shattered ankle. Anything involving a joint is going to be devastating for an athlete, and when my cousin broke her ankle on a skateboard, they had to use pins and wires to put her leg back in place.

Christabelle · Feb 5, 2015

He's a local star on a lot of radars with D1 college recruiters. Pushing him through for surgery ASAP wouldn't be stretching things in a football obsessed mid-sized city.

Having his knee involved rather than his ankle works better, IMO. I'm now thinking tibial plateau fracture with tears to the ACL and meniscus. His surgeon will only be able to repair the bone right away, and he'll need a later surgery on the ACL. Plates and screws are common with that fracture, and his future playing ball will be very tenuous.

nikkidj · Feb 5, 2015

I'd vote for a fracture/dislocation at the knee. The dislocation increases the chance of an arterial tear, which, as noted above, necessitates emergency surgery. The tibial plateau fracture, if depressed enough, would also need rather immediate surgery. But honestly, I'm not sure if they'd fix the bone at the same time as they fixed the artery. The arterial injury is limb threatening. They'd fix that first, then probably go back to surgery to fix the tibial plateau fracture and the ligamentous injuries.

moonwatch178 · Feb 6, 2015

A football player I knew suffered suffered a distal femur fracture that required immediate surgery and messed with his knee joint. He didn't get it from football, but it's possible to get such an injury as a result of football.

Help me injure my character's leg

Christabelle

Lauram6123

Maze Runner

Taejang

Why not?

cmhbob

Did...did I do that?

Christabelle

Deb Kinnard

Lauram6123

frimble3

Heckuva good sport

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

Christabelle

nikkidj

moonwatch178

The Angels Have The Phone Box