Bryzgalov is Listed as Day-to-Day with a "Chip" Fracture
Here's the deal....that "limp" Panaccio reported last night about Bryzgalov turned out to be a chip fracture in his right foot --
Alright, so what the hell is a chip fracture?
In the medical world, it's known as an avulsion fracture. It's a "bone fracture which occurs when a fragment of bone tears away from the main mass of bone as a result of physical trauma."
Before yesterday's game began, Bryzgalov reportedly took a puck off his right skate in pregame skate, and was seen leaving the ice in pain. Like a boss, he came back and muscled through the next 60-minutes of regulation. Granted the Flyers lost, but that's neither here nor there.
An MRI revealed that a smaller bone in Ilya's right foot had been torn away from the larger bone, and is floating around on an end of ligament like some kind of inflatable air dancer.
Enough of the explanation. What's the lead time on his return?
Okay, so Paul Holmgren's reported that Bryzgalov is unavailable for Thursday's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs and is officially listed as day-to-day.
That leaves absolutely no clarification on how serious the chip fracture is.
See, there's a few types of severity when it comes to the avulsion fracture:
Type I: The fragmented bone is only minimally displaced from the bone’s main body. Do not need surgical treatments and can be treated with the use of simple cast immobilizations.
Type II: This bone injury causes lesions on neighboring tissues but the chipped fragment still maintains a respectable distance to the main bone. This case requires surgery.
Type III: The chipped bone fragment is more than 2-centimeters far from the primary bone. Requires surgery in order to remove or join the detached fragment back to the main body of the bone.
For argument sake, let's just assume Bryzgalov's suffered a Type I avulsion fracture. Why? Because he played 60-minutes of ice hockey immediately after experiencing the initial injury. Something tells me Type II & III would usher greater amounts of pain and force Bryzgalov to sit out.
The "simple cast immobilizations" the definition of Type I forecasts as the patient's treatment could take up to eight weeks to complete, and perhaps even a small amount of physical therapy.
Most of the times, management of chip fractures only require the use of conservative treatments such as application of ice, use of bandages, and having adequate rest.
As for medical non-surgical treatments, there are two options which can be administered on the injury. The first is immobilization. Based on the level of severity, the affected area is immobilized through the use of stiff-soled shoes, casts, or braces.
Another method is bone stimulation wherein an external device is attached internally (on the bone) and connected externally (outside the skin) to immobilized the bones and speed up the healing process.
Surgery is only required when the chip fracture causes the bone to be severely displaced. Other indications include multiple breaks and if the bone has failed to heal properly even after initial treatment has already been applied. ~ bonesfracture.com
So all in all, we (the fans) really have no general idea how long we could see Bryzgalov out of commission. Right now I'd say it's safe to assume we won't see him against the Senators, Penguins and the Rangers. That's one week's worth of contests not including the Toronto game we already know he won't play in.
Sergei Bobrovsky will fill in for #30. Since the All-Star break, Bob has played in six games and only one win. He has four wins this year of 2012. Bob last started against the Devils on March 11th, which was a 4 - 1 loss. Tomorrow will be 17-days since he saw NHL action.
Time for a prayer circle, Philadelphia.
UPDATE:
UPDATE #2:
Paul Holmgren's told the press he doesn't expect Bryzgalov's injury to be all that serious --
Well then, looks like I jumped to conclusions with my analysis. Then again, Holmgren's been known to bend the truth before.
So this piece of bone (otherwise termed as a "floating body") may just be absorbed by Bryzgalov's system. Funny how anatomy operates.
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