UK's Patterson has ankle surgery

Apr 03, 2008 (The Lexington Herald-Leader - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- -- A doctor experienced with medical issues in the country's four major professional leagues performed surgery on Kentucky freshman Patrick Patterson's injured left ankle last Friday, UK announced in a news release on Wednesday.

Robert Anderson, a Charlotte, N.C.-based surgeon, stabilized the stress fracture that caused Patterson to miss the season's final five games.

Meanwhile, sophomore guard Jodie Meeks is considering surgery, the UK news release said. Meeks planned to meet with a sports hernia specialist, Dr. Bill Meyers of Philadelphia, on April 10 to determine whether surgery was necessary, UK said.

Patterson's recovery time is expected to approach the beginning of next season. He will be in a cast and on crutches for six weeks, UK said. Depending on how the ankle heals, he will need a recovery time of four to six months. He averaged 16.4 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds last season. Southeastern Conference coaches named him the league's Co-Freshman of the Year along with Florida's Nick Calathes.

Anderson has worked with such athletes as wide receiver Plaxico Burress (ankle) and tight end Jeremy Shockey (fibula and ankle) of the New York Giants, center Peter Forsberg (ankle), then of the Philadelphia Flyers, and linebacker Leonard Little (big toe) of the St. Louis Rams.

Anderson has practiced medicine with OrthoCarolina since 1989. In his days at the Medical College of Wisconsin, he consulted with the Green Bay Packers. He has since been a consultant to nearly every team in the NFL, as well as teams in the NBA and MLB, according to the OrthoCarolina Web site. He also serves as the foot and ankle consultant to Major League Baseball's Umpire Division.

As the assistant team physician of the NFL's Carolina Panthers, Anderson also consults on injuries involving Charlotte area high school football and basketball players. Meeks has been diagnosed with right athletic pubalgia, more commonly known as a sports hernia. Because of various injuries, he played in only 11 of UK's 31 games. He missed six weeks in November/December because of what was diagnosed as a stress fracture in the pelvis.

After returning to play 35 minutes at Houston, Meeks sat out another game because of a strained hip flexor. He then reaggravated the injury.

Meeks, who averaged 8.8 points, sat out the final eight games because of the injury in the groin area.

A doctor not involved in the case, Ronald Grelsamer of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, likened a sports hernia to shin splints.

"A general term used very loosely so different people attach different meanings to it," he said. "Usually it has to do with a little weakness in a muscle in the lower abdomen." Surgery can be required when rest does not end the pain, Grelsamer said. Stress can cause the condition to worsen, he said.

Such tests as an X-ray or MRI remove other possibilities, leading to a clinical diagnosis of sports hernia, Grelsamer said.

He said the cause of a sports hernia can be "a combination of genetics mixed in with athletic activity, usually involving twisting and turning." Athletes in basketball or soccer are more susceptible to sports hernia than, say, swimmers or cyclists, he said.

Bradley in All-Star Game Kentucky senior Ramel Bradley will take part in Friday's DiGiorno College All-Star game in San Antonio.

Bradley is one of 22 seniors playing in the game, which will be on the Final Four floor for the first time in its long history. The game begins at 6 p.m. EDT and will be televised on CSTV.

The 6-foot-2 senior will team with fellow SEC member and SEC Player of the Year Shan Foster of Vanderbilt as a member of the National Team and will be wearing No. 20. Georgia's Sundiata Gaines will play for the American team.

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