May 20th, 2012 at 12:33 am 
by Ron Cervenka After Saturday night’s game, Dodgers head trainer Sue Falsone held a brief press conference to give an update on Mark Ellis. According to Falsone, Ellis arrived at Dodger Stadium on Saturday morning complaining of pain and discomfort in his left leg just below the knee where he was hit by a sliding Tyler Greene during Friday night’s game. Not wishing to take any chances, Ellis was taken to the hospital for a thorough examination and an MRI. The results confirmed that Ellis’ injury was far more serious than was initially thought and required immediate emergency surgery to relieve pressure in the area. The procedure, which Falsone identified as a fasciotomy, involves an (approximate) 8-inch vertical incision that is left open for several days to relieve the pressure and allow the tissue to begin healing. Falsone added that the open wound would then be sealed on Tuesday and allowed to heal normally. She added that the minimum recovery time would be approximately six weeks.
The injury to Mark Ellis' left leg was far more serious that initially thought and required emergency surgery on Saturday morning. Ellis is expected to be out for a minimum of six weeks. (Photo by Jon Soohoo)
Manager Don Mattingly confirmed that Ivan De Jesus Jr. arrived from Albuquerque during Saturday night’s game and will be available on Sunday. He added that pitching match-ups will dictate who will get the start at second base.
On a more positive note, Falsone said that both Jerry Hairston Jr. and Matt Kemp are progressing exceptionally well and will most likely return to the line-up as soon as they are eligible to come off of the disabled list. She added that Juan Rivera is also healing ahead of schedule and could possible return to action within the next two to three weeks.
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Man, that’s a gruesome looking procedure, and from the looks of things, that can’t be comfortable to have your leg splayed open like that, even for a few minutes… let alone three days!! Good grief…
It’s good to hear the others are progressing well, hopefully ahead of schedule.
I’m not sure what Mark’s leg looks like but find it quite ironic that the photo on Wikipedia is in the exact same location as Mark’s injury, so I would assume that it looks very similar to this gruesome photo. Even the skin graft photo is not for the faint of heart. I neglected to mention that Mark will remain hospitalized until the incision is closed, obviously to prevent infection.
Ron, A fasciotomy is serious business. My wife needed one when she was 14 years old and hospitalized after a serious auto accident. A mis diagnosis of her condition almost cost her her leg and left her with the removal of a muscle and 7 surgeries over the years due to a skin graft and eventual removal of the graft. it took many surgical procedures and over 30 years time to get her back to normal. Ellis is fortunate that they diagnosed the problem immediately and got him into surgery. A comeback within 6 weeks would be miraculous, but then again, he’s a professional athlete and the medical field has advanced significantly over the years.
One last thing I forgot to mention. If they can close Ellis’ incision without requiring a skin graft, it will be a big step in his recovery. I can’t see him returning to action anytime soon if he requires the a skin graft to close his wound. Grafts are problematic, prone to infection and simply there to close the wound. In my wife’s case, the removal of the skin graft was a process of years and several surgeries. Taking out a portion of it. Stretching the skin, re-closing the wound. Waiting a year or so…take another portion out, stretching the skin again, etc…That is her experience with this injury.
Not knowing anything about a fasciotomy, I asked Sue Falsone if Mark would require additional surgeries, to which she said that she didn’t believe that he would. I will check back with her next week as to whether or not Mark needed a skin graft.