Contact sport out for Schalk?
2006-06-20 21:35
Marius Louw and Hendrik Cronjé
Cape Town - After most injuries similar to the one that Springbok flank Schalk Burger has, further participation in contact sport is not recommended, says a medical expert.
Dr Robert Dunn of the acute spinal unit at Groote Schuur Hospital says the displacement in Burger's neck is not visible to the naked eye and cannot be felt. "It is less than two to three millimetres."
Dunn said on Tuesday the rehabilitation process after an operation would involve rest, physiotherapy and biokinetic exercises. This usually took two to three months, he added.
In most cases of this nature, further contact sport is not recommended for these patients.
Burger's rugby future now depends on an operation to be done on Saturday, the same day his teammates play France in a Test match at Newlands.
Similar operations on sportsmen have been successful, but doctors hold different opinions about Burger being able to play at the same level again.
Scan shows neck damage
Burger injured his neck during the second Test against Scotland in Port Elizabeth last Saturday.
Springbok team doctor Yusuf Hassan says the operation Burger has to undergo is not unique, but every case has to be judged on its own merits.
A scan has shown damage between the sixth and seventh vertebrae, the bottom two, in Burger's neck.
A protrusion - a vertebra that has moved as a result of a hard knock - causes pressure on the nerves.
Dr Hassan said on Tuesday Burger was being treated for pain. The operation would involve the removal of the cause of the irritation.
He would not confirm that the operation would be done at the N1 City Hospital in Goodwood. "All I am willing to say, is that it will be done in Cape Town."
Whether the two vertebrae will be permanently fused is a decision to be taken by the neurosurgeon who will perform the operation.
Burger's father, Schalk Burger snr, a former Springbok himself, said on Tuesday the family was hoping for the best.
'Blessing in disguise'
"We regard it as two phases: first to get the operation behind us and then the rehabilitation," he said.
"Who knows, maybe it was a blessing in disguise."
There was more bad news for the Springboks on Tuesday. Right wing Breyton Paulse is also out of the Test against France.
His hamstring injury is worse than it was after the second Test against Scotland and he won't be considered for the Newlands match.
There is also no chance of Jaque Fourie recovering from his rib injury in time to be considered.