Doctor believes Anderson Silva could make full recovery and return to training within nine months from broken leg

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

We now have more information on the injury to Anderson Silva from UFC 168 and his recovery process going forward. The UFC held a special teleconference on Monday with Dr. Steven Sanders, the surgeon who operated on Silva Saturday night.

According to Dr. Sanders, Silva fractured both the tibia and fibia in his left leg on the kick thrown, an injury which was thankfully not as bad as it could have been. Had the bone poked through the skin, it would have been at risk for infection; in the worst cases of that type of injury, it can even lead to amputation.

Fortunately, Silva avoided the worst versions of that type of injury. It was repaired by inserting a titanium rod in the tibia to stabilize the break.

Silva will remain in the hospital for the next several days as doctors monitor his progress and he starts physical therapy. They've also got him on medication to manage the pain.

Dr. Sanders stated that Silva has asked multiple times in the past 48 hours when he'll be able to train again, and in fact that was one of his first questions before the operation Saturday night.

While recovery is expected to take between three and six months, that's simply for the injury to heal. Dr. Sanders generous estimate is that Silva should hopefully be able to return to training in six to nine months. Further, once the bone heals and the soft tissue around the area is healed, there shouldn't be any added risk for re-injury.

Penick's Analysis: With Silva asking about when he can return to training, it's likely he's going to attempt a comeback, and to not allow that image on Saturday night to be his last in the UFC. A return to training in six to nine months is still a conservative estimate, and it all depends on how things heal from now until then and how physical therapy goes as well. Once he's back in training, he's likely going to need a good amount of time to get his game back as well. Say that's a four-month process after nine months of rehab, Silva just might be able to return by the UFC's Super Bowl weekend show in 2015. It sounds like that's going to be a goal for him, but he's still got a long path ahead of him before he gets there.

[Anderson Silva art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_19765.shtml

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