I’ve seen a lot of posts about Kulich and his blood clot injury and would like to maybe clear some stuff up regarding this. As a general surgeon, I do have a bit to share about this.
Bodies are, unfortunately, very good at creating blood clots, but are also good at breaking them down (slowly over time). They form quicker than they break down. Several things can cause them from forming which include genetics (which I feel is the most likely in Kulich’s situation), age, obesity, medication use, sedentary lifestyle, and pregnancy (don’t think this is it…). Now, once it occurs, we have to decide how to treat it. Historically, it has been treated with anticoagulation such as Eliquis or Xarelto, and in old times, Coumadin. Now, with time, the blood clot will break down and, eventually, resolve, especially in healthy, young people, like Kulich. There is a procedure that is able to be performed, which is new within the past 10-15 years – a venous thrombectomy, which goes into the vein and removes the actual clot. Now, this is only good for blood clots that are located between the knee and groin region (popliteal, femoral, and iliac veins). The technology is not quite great yet at retrieving blood clots below the knee, and I tried doing some research to see where his was and if he underwent any procedure to help reduce the clot, but was unable to see anything of this. If that is the case, then he will get over this much quicker, or at least he should, in theory.
Either way, he was definitely placed on some form of anticoagulation (Eliquis or Xarelto). This, over time, will help reduce the burden of the clot along with any symptoms. Unfortunately, when on a blood clot, he cannot play contact sports, for obviously, the increased risk of bleeding. Until his clot burden is almost gone or completely gone, we will not see him back in action. This can take, again, unfortunately, 3-6 months at the minimum, and typically a thrombectomy is required for it to resolve this quickly. Without it, we are looking at 6 months to 1 year or greater before his return.
With this, we unfortunately do not know how long he will be out. Do we make a move to replace him in the interim? Ride it out and hope for a quicker return? With him being a professional athlete, I would hope he would return quicker than most of my 60 year old, tobacco loving, severe cardiac issue patients that I typically deal with.
Hope this helps clear some stuff up about him! Ask any further questions you may have! I can also post this in the Open Thread as well.
If this Fan Post was published by someone other than one of the Die by the Blade's editors, the ideas or opinions written do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Die by the Blade or For Fans Sports Network.