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Alex Bregman has minor elbow surgery

News broke that Bregman had minor elbow surgery, let’s look at the medical side and what it means.

By Brian Cohn
Bregman’s elbow will be more than healthy enough to hoist another one of these
Shanna Lockwood - USA TODAY Sports)

It was reported today that Alex Bregman underwent arthroscopic surgery for loose bodies in his elbow. Bregman told MLB..com that his elbow had been bothering him for about 3 years, and the Astros and him had decided to address the issue.

“Ever since probably 2016, my arm’s been bugging me since about Spring Training,” he said. “It never was worse, though, than this offseason in December around Christmastime, where it locked out. That’s the thing you read about bone chips and your arm locking and not being able to move it.

”So my arm locked out, and it just was like so stiff to where I could barely move it. I had to go get a CT scan, and it showed that I had bone chips in it. It’s something you can play through a little bit, but when it locks out, you’re looking at a DL stint, and I wasn’t willing to risk going on the DL this year for something I know I could fix before the season started. So we went ahead and knocked it out.”

The good news is that Bregman should be limited in Spring Training but ready to go for Opening day!

So what are “Loose Bodies”

I’m not a doctor but here are some quick snippets from ShorlineOrtho.com

“Loose bodies are small fragments of bone or cartilage that have broken off inside a joint. As these fragments float free within the elbow, they can cause pain and even get caught in the moving parts of the joint.”

What causes them?

“ This condition can also be caused by participation in certain sports or other activities that place tremendous stress on the elbow joint, such as heavy manual work or weightlifting.”

(Other research also showed a higher percentage of occurrance due to repetitive overhead motions including throwing, but also notes diving or traumas to the elbow.

Recovery

“Removing loose bodies from the joint surgically may resolve painful symptoms. This can often be done with elbow arthroscopy. Using minimally invasive techniques causes less surgical trauma to muscles, allowing for an earlier rehabilitation and recovery.”

Luckily for us, in Bregman’s case, it was able to be address with the arthroscopic surgery, Reading up,

Bregman is aiming for a return to baseball on the night of March 1st.

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