In a recent episode of Barstool Sports’ Coach Prime webseries, former NFL Hall of Famer and Jackson State coach Deion “Prime Time” Sanders opened up about having two of his toes amputated in a surgery that was necessary to save his entire leg. Dr. Brian Sutterer, a sports medicine expert and previous specialist in physical medicine, reviews the footage in a new video on his YouTube channel and shares his professional insight on what happened.
Concern first arose after Sanders underwent surgery to correct a hammer toe, and his big and second toe turned black. This discoloration, Sutterer explains, is a result of a lack of oxygenated blood getting to the toes. In Sanders’ case, this was due to blood clots in his lower leg—blood clots being a condition that he was previously unaware of which he had a family history.
“When that tissue loses oxygen, that tissue starts to die and necrose and becomes extremely painful,” he says. “The reason we have to talk about amputation whenever people have these ischemic digits is because that dead, damaged tissue is a really strong site for potential infection. That infection can spread throughout the rest of your body which can subsequently be fatal with something called sepsis.”
Sanders then developed compartment syndrome, which was treated via a “gnarly” procedure called a fasciotomy, where doctors sliced into his leg tissue to relieve the pressure of built-up fluid. They then had to amputate the two ischemic toes in order to prevent the spread of infection.
“In this case, you’re always lucky enough to not have to take more of the leg, not have to take more of the foot,” says Sutterer. “They were able to intervene soon enough that while it is still bad, they only had to take the toes.”
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