#14-Tony Stewart suffered a burst fracture of his L1 vertebra and had surgery Wednesday in North Carolina. There are varying degrees of burst fractures, said ESPN college sports and motorsports announcer and reporter Dr. Jerry Punch, who also said he expects Stewart to be out for months. Punch has not talked with Stewart and is not treating him but said the burst fracture is worse than a compression fracture. Denny Hamlin missed five weeks after a compression fracture of his L-1 vertebra (the highest bone in the lower back) in 2013. ‘[A burst fracture] is basically an explosion of the vertebrae, typically the body of the vertebrae,’ Punch said in a phone interview. ‘Unlike a compression fracture, where it sort of gets pushed down on itself, a burst fracture usually involves multiple fractures and multiple fragments. ‘¦ Normally when someone has a burst fracture, you’re talking months of healing, you’re talking people wearing these big lumbar braces for two to three months.’ Stewart will not be able to return until an MRI or a CT scan shows that the bone has healed. Stewart also will need to have rehab to strengthen his back if any of the bone fragments caused weakness to his spinal column, Punch said. ‘It’s not like a broken arm where you can put a plate in it where you can deal with the pain and get in the car,’ Punch said. ‘With the back, it can impact your ability to walk and move the rest of your life. You can’t take a chance on hitting something at all.’(ESPN.com)
