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NAME: Jerry Dipoto
SPORT: Baseball
TEAM: Colorado Rockies
POSITION: Relief pitcher
INJURY: Slipped disk in neck
OTHER ATHLETES AFFECTED:
Jerry Dipoto, to date, is the only athlete reported to have hurt a disk at the neck level of his spinal column. Mark Mulder, pitcher of the Oakland As, has had a season-ending disk injury in his back. His team says he is making progress but is not expected to return at all this year, including the postseason. In men's college basketball, Akron forward Andy Hipsher also is out for the season with disk problems in his back.
PLAYER BIO:
The 32-year-old right-hander is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 205 pounds. Dipoto played three seasons at Virginia Commonwealth University, then entered the majors when he was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the third round of the free-agent draft in 1989. He was traded to the New York Mets in 1994. That same year, he fought off thyroid cancer.
He began playing for Colorado in 1997 and racked up 16 saves. He saved 19 the following season. And in 1999, if he came into a game with men already on base, they would go on to score just 12.5% of the time, a statistic that was the best for relievers that year in the National League.
ABOUT THE INJURY:
In the spinal column, the fibrous, jelly-filled disks act like cushions between the bones in the back, or vertebrae, and keep the bones from grinding into each other. Any of the disks along the backbone can weaken -- from high behind the neck to just above the pelvis. When this happens, it allows the jelly to bulge out the disk wall around the spinal nerves. The injury causes pain and weakness in the extremities served by the affected nerves.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Over the past two seasons, Dipoto has been plagued with disk troubles. Last year, after complaining of shooting pain in his neck and shoulder, doctors sent him for an MRI scan and discovered a slipped disk. (Officially, the bulge happened in a disk located at C6, or the sixth vertebra from the top in the spinal column, at the cervical region.) The scans suggested that the injury occurred over time, with the general beating the neck, arm, and shoulder takes from pitching in the majors. After being treated for that injury, he tried to return to play. He pitched earlier this week, then experienced similar symptoms. Doctors found he had another slipped disk in the same area of his neck.
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT:
At the time doctors were reviewing his MRI scans of his first disk injury, it was hoped that rest, physical therapy, and practice down in the minors would be enough to help Dipoto recover. But doctors kept the possibility of surgery in the background. Such a procedure would end his season, so his medical team hoped a six-week hiatus would work. He played 17 games, then ended up needing surgery. Last May, doctors took a metal plate and some of the bone from his hip to try to give his neck more support. He played another 12 games after his operation, but the stiffness continued.
After his recent symptoms of stiffness after pitching, doctors discovered a second bulging disk in his neck. This one is more severe than the first. They gave him an injection to try to ease the pain and stiffness, but they determined that he can no longer play without risking lasting injury and pain.
When doctors treat patients who are not professional athletes, they may choose to try to hold off on surgery to see if rest and perhaps some physical therapy bring relief. A doctor might resort to surgery if pain persists after initial treatment, or if it seems that the nerves continue to be affected by the bulging disk. But after the diagnostic images are taken, if the patient shows any signs that the nerves are being damaged, a doctor usually goes right to surgery. During a procedure, part of the bulging disk or even the whole disk can be removed in order to relieve pressure on the surrounding nerves. This surgery can require a long recovery time, incorporating physical therapy to regain movement and strength in the affected area.
PREVENTION:
Dipoto's injury probably happened because of the wear and tear that his sport put on his body. As players perform season after season at the professional level, these injuries can happen. With regular folks, being excessively overweight or doing lots of heavy lifting can cause disk injuries, so prevention can apply here. But for a player like Dipoto, who is known to be especially athletic, the injury probably could not have been prevented. Changing his pitching style may have changed some of the force on his body, but there is no telling if he would have been able to make such adjustments and still be able to throw the pitches that brought him success.
RECOVERY:
This injury is forcing Dipoto to retire. Doctors probably can make him more comfortable, but he cannot pitch without pain and stiffness. Had he decided to continue to play, it could have meant aggravating the injury and causing pain for the rest of his life.
LONG-TERM OUTLOOK:
Dipoto, whom his general manager likened to the very fabric of the Rockies, gave a tearful announcement that it was time for him to retire. He is going to stay with the team, working in the front office. He still is guaranteed to get $2.5 million this year from his contract.
"The hardest part for me was the understanding that I wouldn't be in the clubhouse and I wouldn't be on the field anymore ... that I wouldn't have a locker. That I would have to wear real pants to work," he told The Associated Press. "That's all scary stuff."
Medical Information provided by WebMD Medical News.
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