Valentino Rossi MotoGP Injury Update
With the first official test of the 2011 MotoGP season at Sepang 79 days away, Valentino Rossi will be hoping for a quick recovery from the shoulder operation he received on Sunday at the Cervesi di Cattolica hospital in his native Italy.
The surgery was successful procedures performed by Doctor Alex Castagna from the Milan Humanitas Institute and shoulder specialist Dr Giuseppe Porcellini, but Rossi was told he would need 90 days of rehabilitation before jumping back on the Ducati GP11 for the 2011 MotoGP season.
The math simply makes this tight, but as the MotoGP world saw from Rossi’s final season on the Yamaha M1, his recovery comes quite quick. Take his broken leg from the Mugello MotoGP round in Italy; Ross was back on track five weeks later at the Germany MotoGP in Sachsenring, taking fourth place.
On Tuesday, Dr. Castagna says he believes Rossi should be fit for the test in Malaysia.
He says Rossi will wear a splint to support his shoulder for three weeks, and then his recovery program will consists of three important stages.
Dr. Castagna explains this in the La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy’s most trusted sports newspaper.
Dr. Allessandro Castagna (Surgeon of Valentino Rossi) says: “It usually takes 90 days and he has 79 until the first Test. I’m sure that if everything goes smoothly and there are no complications he can be ready for it.”
“The inflammatory phase (immediately after surgery) usually lasts for between three to five days,” continued Dr Castagna. “The second phase usually a month and a half or two during which the capillaries in the area will aid the production of fresh cells that will help the healing process. The final stage will be the re-strengthening of the joint. In the middle of the second stage Valentino will start the rehabilitation with the first steps being in the pool, followed by gym activity.”
“The operation itself had no particular problems, but we encountered a situation like at the supermarket: pay for one, get three. To give an idea of the situation it normally takes 35 minutes to stabilize a shoulder, and with Valentino it took us an hour and 50 minutes.”
“In simple terms the supraspinatus tendon and the glenoid ligament were both very damaged. We had to clean the area to prepare it for its natural healing process, and then close it with 12 stitches. The fibrocartilage surrounding the humerus was displaced so we put it back and fixed it with bio-absorbable staples. All of this was done in an area which measured a maximum of 2-3 centimeters.”
Rossi had the surgery performed after his debut on the Ducati at the traditional, post-season MotoGP tests at Valencia last week. During his first outing on the Ducati, he was 10th fastest on day 1 of the MotoGP test, and 15th fastest on day 2.
