Tim Hudson's Injury

If you are a baseball fan, then you have probably heard and seen about the injury to Braves' pitcher Tim Hudson last week.  While covering 1st base, Eric Young Jr. inadvertently stepped on Hudson's right leg just above the ankle on the lateral side.  Early reports where that Hudson fractured his ankle.  This is a very vague description, as there are several bones in the ankle.  After undergoing surgery, it was revealed the Hudson fractured his fibula and tore his deltoid ligament.

The fibula is the bone located on the lateral side of the lower leg.  It runs from just below the knee down to the ankle, and forms the lateral portion of the ankle.  The very distal (bottom) end of the fibula is called the lateral malleolus.  Looking at the picture of the injury, Hudson fractured his fibula just above the lateral malleolus.  Since the fibula is thinner than the tibia and doesn't play as large a role in weight bearing, the recovery can be easier (still difficult) than a fractured tiba (the medial shin bone that bears about 90% of our weight when standing).  Hudson also tore his deltoid ligament, which is the thick ligament on the medial side of the ankle.  It is actually a collection of four ligaments shaped like a triangle (deltoid).  It helps prevent the ankle from excessive eversion (when the bottom of the foot moves away from the midline, such as in the picture above).

Although Hudson is 38 years old, he has a pretty good chance of pitching again.  His rehab from the injury will probably take 3-6 months, and he should be ready to go by spring training.  Hopefully he can make a full recovery.