Quote:
Originally Posted by J epworth
This is what I posted in the positive playoffs thread last month, found a case study at least that it's possible he could come back this season without risking injury:
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Unfortunately full ROM and initiation of resistance training are just the beginning of rehab for athletes. This case was published pretty early in patient's rehab, and ended at the point where he was able to function day to day. Functioning of ADLs basically means being self sufficient throughout a day. Gio doing things like wiping his own butt with his injured arm is great, but there's a ways to go until he's in professional athlete territory again. If playing in the NHL is traumatic enough to tear a healthy bicep tendon, you can bet it's traumatic enough to tear a repaired tendon.
Finally, with tendon repair, it's tough to assess if somebody is truly 'ahead of schedule'. The 'schedule' is based on the patient's pain, ROM, and activity tolerance. It is actually very loosely related to the tensile strength, which relies on the nature of tear, intraop findings, and natural healing process (doesn't actually find equilibrium for 18-24 months, although functional much sooner. Similar to bones, etc). And the tensile strength is really the main end point you're looking for in an athlete's return. There are only a few very poor ways to assess that, and returning to full resistance 'ahead of schedule' essentially means 'taking a larger risk', because assessing tensile strength is so poorly done. I highly doubt that he'll be taking slapshots for months, although I wish he played with the team tomorrow.