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Chicago Bulls' Luol Deng to decide on treatment for stress fracture

Bulls forward set to weigh options with surgeon

By K.C. Johnson | Tribune reporter

11:03 PM CDT, March 8, 2009

Monday is an important day for the Bulls, for reasons that have nothing to do with their playoff-push matchup against the Miami Heat.

Sources said Luol Deng will consult with an orthopedic surgeon in Miami who has extensive experience in treating tibial stress fractures to detail the fifth-year forward's options.

These range from surgery now to surgery after the season, shutting down for the Bulls' final 19 games to begin a rehabilitation process without surgery or playing through pain and beginning a rehab process after the season.

According to research involving other athletes with tibial stress fractures, surgery now could prevent any recurrence of a fracture in Deng's right tibia and sideline him for roughly three months. No surgery could mean a three- to five-month rehabilitation process and a possibly chronic condition.

The Bulls have supported Deng's efforts to seek outside opinions. Sources said Bulls physician Brian Cole has talked by phone with Deng's doctor, a radiologist specializing in athletes' injuries for more than 15 years who works with all pro teams in Miami as well as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"What I'm worried about is playing on it and having it become a bigger fracture," Deng said. "I want to know I can't make it any worse. It hurts when I put weight on it. If I have no pain, I would play."

Deng had had mild pain in his right shin for more than three weeks when he jumped for a rebound Feb. 28 against Houston and felt a sharp, stabbing pain. X-rays taken at halftime raised concern among Bulls doctors that Deng had a stress fracture in his right tibia, and he sat for the second half.

On March 1, Bulls physicians read an MRI exam on the injury as negative. Two days later, Deng tested the injury at the morning shootaround in Charlotte. He felt OK until pregame warm-ups, when the sharp pain returned whenever he jumped and landed.

Shortly before tipoff, sources said, Deng received word from the Miami-based radiologist that test results showed a small fracture and advised Deng to not play.

The next day, the Bulls performed a CT scan and a follow-up MRI on Deng's leg and released a statement that called it "an early anterior tibial stress fracture."

The statement said: "All of the information to date points to some mild inflammation along his tibia, with a small irregularity within the cortical bone, with no obvious break in the inner or outer layer of bone.

"He has been restricted from high-level activity since [Feb. 28]. At this point, he will undergo 'active rest,' meaning that he will be encouraged to challenge himself physically, and if symptoms remain minimal he will be allowed an expeditious return to play."

Deng has been running on a "weightless" treadmill designed to eliminate stress from bones and joints and undergoing daily icing and electrical stimulation treatments. On Monday, some answers could take shape.

kcjohnson@tribune.com