Tommy John surgery is also known as ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction
Tommy John surgery is in the immediate future for Red Sox starter John Lackey.
CBS/AP reports that Lackey will undergo Tommy John surgery and, as a result, miss the entire 2012 season. The Red Sox’s new GM, Ben Cherington, made the announcement on Tuesday. The announcement of the surgery follows a terrible year for Lackey. Lackey filed for divorce late in the season and his wife has breast cancer.
“Everything in my life sucks right now, to be honest with you,” a frustrated Lackey said in May.
Cherington spoke highly of Lackey, saying, “John Lackey pitched through circumstances this year that I don’t think any of us in this room can fully understand and he got beat up for it a little bit along the way. This guy was dealing with some stuff both on the field and off the field that were really difficult. I thought he showed tremendous toughness pitching through that.”
Tommy John surgery, also known as ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, is a surgical procedure in which a ligament from the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from somewhere else in the body. The chances of a complete recovery are estimated between 85 and 92 percent.
Read more about Tommy John surgery here.
