Tennessee Titans' Derrick Henry had Foot Surgery. Now what?

Derrick Henry had foot surgery yesterday, what does this mean?

For some background, Henry had a right foot injury during the Colts game this Sunday Oct 31st. He actually injured it in the first quarter but he still played through the end of the game.

After being seen by doctor it was found he had a fracture of his 5th metatarsal. So what is that?

 If you’re looking at the bones of the foot, theres 5 long bones in the middle of the foot, called your metatarsals. And the little bump at the base of the 5th one you can actually feel pretty well on yourself if you push on the outside of your lower foot. There’s a couple different types of fractures near this area, but what you need to know is that a jones fracture is at the level that the 4th/5th articulate. It is concerning because of poor blood flow because of how the small blood vessels are distributed, so theres a higher risk of non-union. 

How does this fracture happen?

This usually happens when someone pushes off of a plantar flexed foot. So, the forefoot is pointed downwards and on the ground, and the forefoot is forcefully twisted inwards, causing the fracture. Thats why we often see it in football and soccer players.

After a fracture occurs one of two things can happen. This fracture can either a) be left to heal on its own, or b) be fixated with surgery; 

Heres the thing - athletes very often undergo surgery right away because there is a quicker recover time. There’s less of a chance of delayed union, or in other words, less of a chance that the fracture takes months and months to heal. For this reason, we’re very aggressive, especially with our professional athletes to proceed to surgery.

This Tuesday morning, Derrick Henry underwent foot surgery that apparently “went well,”. There probably won’t be further comment on the surgery anytime soon. I have personally done this surgery, but not on DerriK Henry. I am not his surgeon and don/t know his surgeon, anything I say is pure speculation and not medical advice or fact. 

I think that Derrick Henry likely have a large inter medullary screw, which is placed inside of the 5th metatarsal. The way that surgeons do this is shown in an animation by Arthrex. The fracture is held in proper alignment, then a wire is placed across the fracture site to hold to fracture site in place while a hole is drilled for the screw and the measurement is taken. The final screw hold the bone in place and provides compression across the fracture site.

Another possibility is that instead of this one large screw, he had a plate with several smaller screws. 

The big question: what is Derrick Henry’s recover going to look like?! short period of non-weight bearing (1-3 weeks) followed by protected weight-bearing and beginning therapy focusing on range of motion and non-impact aerobic exercises. Running and impact activities might be started at 6-8 weeks if surgical site pain-free and signs of radiographic callus. So again, before Derrik Henry can return to play there needs to be clinical healing, no pain, and radiographic healing, both on XR and CT.

I’d say he needs at least 8 weeks before this could happen; which means he might return in early 2022 for the playoffs, but is unlikely to play the rest of 2021.

The information here is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional.