CBS Sports Online: Dr. Tehrany weighs in with his expert opinion on Irving’s second knee surgery

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During the turbulent NBA games in the past couple of weeks, the Boston Celtics have locked up the second position in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, after they lost their point guard, Kyrie Irving, to a second knee surgery, the odds for winning the title this season have been destabilized. Irving, who on Saturday underwent a second knee surgery, had been struggling with his knee for most of the season, and he received non-surgical treatments and spent quality time resting. However, despite the treatment, the tension wire that was inserted into his knee back in 2015 after his patella fracture, continued to cause him discomfort, and his doctors decided it was time to remove it.  Unfortunately, during the surgery for the wire removal, it was revealed that the screws that had been implanted in Irving’s knee in 2015, had become infected, and his knee was at risk of a further severe damage, therefore, they performed the second knee surgery to remove the infected screws. The story about Irving’s knee was covered by every sports media outlet in the country. The CBS Sports carefully followed the development of Irving’s condition, and to accurately inform the audience about Irving’s recovery, the editor at their online redaction spoke with our own Dr. Armin Tehrany about the surgery and the expected recovery process. According to Dr. Tehrany, it is extremely common for patients with hardware in their body to begin experiencing pain and discomfort due to infection. On the question of how orthopedic doctors can determine if the hardware is infected, specifically in Irving’s case, Dr. Tehrany explains:
“The test of the fluid around the screws and hardware were tested in the lab for infection.
They can test the white blood cell count, they see if they can grow whatever tissue or specimen from the body to see if it grows out infection. That, I suspect, is how they were able to determine that there was an infection.” Regarding the concerns about further problems caused by the infection, Dr. Tehrany clarifies that there will be a need for a check up on the soft tissue and bone in the area where the screws were implanted. However, considering Irving’s strength and strong health, Dr. Tehrany is optimistic that there should be no further issues for Irving once the infection is completely resolved. In his conclusion, Dr. Tehrany explains why the Celtics and Irving need to be cautiously optimistic about Irving’s long-term health:
“This may have happened simply because in the past he had something as simple as a cold or a viral infection in the upper respiratory that traveled to the knee where the hardware was. Thankfully that was picked up by the surgical team so it could be rectified. So I would feel cautiously optimistic.”
The complete interview is available at CBSSports.com.