CEBU CITY – Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu star guard Andrew Velasco is on the road to recovery after surgery was completed to repair the horrific broken leg he suffered in their 58-50 win over the Don Bosco Greywolves in the 17th Cesafi high school basketball tournament on Tuesday.
The Cesafi’s chief physician, Dr. Rhoel James Timothy O. Dejaño, an expert in rehabilitation medicine and the man who immediately tended to Velasco when the latter fractured his right tibia and fibula on a hard drive to the rack – an injury that saw the bone jut out of his skin, the young man was operated on Wednesday morning by orthopaedics specialist Dr. Jose Antonio G. San Juan.
“He underwent a procedure called open reduction and internal fixation and (surgery) went out well,” said Dejano.
According to a quick online search, an open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) refers to a surgical procedure to fix a severe bone fracture, or break.
“Open reduction” means surgery is needed to realign the bone fracture into the normal position. “Internal fixation” refers to the steel rods, screws, or plates used to keep the bone fracture stable in order to heal the right way and to help prevent infection.
“He is going to start rehabilitation tomorrow and maybe discharged by Friday or Saturday,” added Dejano.
Velasco will then go through an initial 10-week rehabilitation program after which he will be evaluated for the next step of his recovery process.