Brandon Ingram has surgery to remove blood clot, expected to be fully healthy for next season
Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram underwent surgery on his right arm on Saturday, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Ingram was sidelined last week with a sore shoulder and underwent further testing, which revealed a “deep venous thrombosis” — a condition that’s caused by a blood clot. The Lakers expected at that point that he would miss the remainder of the season.
The clot was removed on Saturday at the UCLA Medical Center, which assured better blood flow in his upper body, according to ESPN. The procedure, officially called a thoracic outlet decompression surgery, is fairly common for athletes who make repeated arm motions above their heads.
While there was concern that his condition was similar to that of Chris Bosh or Mirza Teletovic — who both were forced to retire from blood clot issues — his agent, Jeff Schwartz, said that’s simply not the case.
“This couldn’t have been a better set of facts for a clot,” Schwartz told ESPN.
“It’s a night-and-day difference between a hematological issue, or a blood issue however you want to put it, and a structural issue. This was not related to his blood producing something that would cause blood clots. This was purely structural.”
Ingram is expected to make a full recovery in three to four months, though could be back on the court as soon as eight weeks, according the report. He isn’t expected to resume full basketball activities for at least three months, however.
The 21-year-old has averaged 18.3 points per game this season, his third in the league after the Lakers picked him up with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. The Lakers currently boast a 31-38 record, and have won just four of their past 15 games.
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