FLOYD'S MEDICAL SUMMARY

Floyd Landis crashed on his bike in early 2003 and suffered a femoral neck fracture of his right hip.  He returned to cycling and did well until he started having more pain in the hip at then end of 2004.  His X-rays and MRI the showed evidence of a condition know as avascular necrosis, or osteonecrosis. 

This is a condition where the bone actually dies due to a lack of sufficient blood flow.  Unfortunately, this is a relatively common complication of hip and shoulder fractures because the large ball of these joints is particularly susceptible once the neck of the bone supplying the blood becomes fractured.  The fact that there was no evidence or significant problem until almost 2 years after the injury is common with osteonecrosis.

The bigger problem develops from the irregular joint surface and subsequent degenerative arthritis, or osteoarthritis.  Floyd’s hip now shows evidence of advanced osteoarthritis as a result of the osteonecrosis.  Patients with severe Osteoarthritis, particularly in the hip, will commonly have joint replacement surgery to alleviate the pain and disability.