[Jeff Lebowski]

Eichel’s Dilemma

Addressing Eichel on a case study basis is where it gets more complicated. Eichel is an elite athlete and very young with potentially two decades of elite-level hockey he can still play. He wants a procedure that has shown promise regarding similar and in some cases, better outcomes than traditional fusion surgery. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the long-term research quite yet to support widespread use as the gold standard to replace fusion surgery in athletes.

All these studies are found to be performed on people with normal lives and activities, not ones seen at professional level athletics. There is a study that has shown professional athletes have received an artificial disc with good outcomes, but only two athletes were studied and I am unable to access the original article to identify the type of athlete.

There are well-documented reports that Chris Weidman has had the same procedure and has returned to fighting, most recently breaking his fibula and tibia with a devastating kick, requiring surgery. But Weidman is a 1-of-1 case; his success does not and should not dictate Eichel’s decision.

Other studies show that professional athletes have had a similar procedure, specifically a lumbar disc replacement. Those that were successful were not engaged in contact sports; instead performed ballet, soccer, and a fitness instructor. Two subjects were involved in contact sports (wrestling and karate) that did not fare as well. The wrestler had unrelated reasons to stop participating but the karate subject reported low back pain following a high-level rotational activity, requiring a modification of activities to limit pain.

Eichel would certainly perform a variety of neck movements that could stress the artificial disc at times. If Eichel does have the procedure, he could return by training camp based on this protocol, but even in the protocol, the highest level contact sport is basketball that is listed.

https://www.diebytheblade.com/2021/5...disc-conundrum