Brandon Ingram is expected to make a full recovery prior to the start of the 2019-20 season, the Los Angeles Lakers announced on Saturday. The forward was previously shut down for the rest of the season after being diagnosed with Deep Venous Thrombosis.
According to the Lakers, Ingram underwent a successful thoracic outlet decompression procedure on his affected right arm. Ingram has played in 52 games this season.
UPDATE: Brandon Ingram underwent successful thoracic outlet decompression surgery on his right arm today. The procedure was performed by Dr. Hugh Gelabert at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Ingram is expected to make a full recovery prior to the start of next season. pic.twitter.com/q3LgtJpVTB
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 16, 2019
It may be interesting to note that Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome earlier in the season.
According to Stanford Medicine, there are three types of TOS: neurogenic, venous and arterial. Both venous and arterial TOS could lead to blood clots formed by the compression on veins or arteries by ribs and may require surgery.
More information from our resident medical expert, Kendrew Abueg:
Well this is outside of my medical practice as I thought this (DVT) would have been treated in a different way. DVT is essentially a clot and thought he would just have to use blood thinners. This surgery removes the first rib which helps to relieve the pressure on the vessels. That pressure could have led to a narrowing of the vessel causing the clot, but there is no telling unless someone had access to the medical report. We’ll have to see what someone better versed on the subject has to say in regard to this treatment.
The nature of Ingram’s injury is still a bit mysterious, given that surgery was not initially disclosed as the treatment plan.
Nevertheless, it’s good news that the procedure was done successfully and that the third-year Laker is expected to make a full recovery.
