Explained: Marquez’s complex injury, the screws in his hand, the hidden danger
What is a Bennett fracture?
- It is the most common type of fracture to the base of the thumb
- It is usually requires surgery
- It is defined as a two-part fracture of the base of the first metacarpal bone
What were the dangers to Marquez?
- The fracture causes a weaker ability to grasp or clutch
- Although the surgery fixed the fracture, the screws in his hand would not withstand the force generated by braking a MotoGP bike
Iganacio Roger de Ona, who operated on the Repsol Honda rider, explained to DAZN: "It is a fracture in which the fragment is so small that you do not have the possibility of, as would be a fracture of a metacarpal or phalanx, where you can put a plate, a lot of screws on one side and a lot on the other and that you can have a very solid fixation.
“With that you can have the rider back on the bike in the first weeks, if not in the first few days, but that's not the case with this fracture.
"What we did was operate on Marc the same day, he came here to Madrid, we went to the operating room and we were able to make a closed reduction.
"This means that we were able to put the bone back in place and fix it with two percutaneous screws.
“There was no need to open the entire joint. It was a very little aggressive intervention, where we managed very well to leave the joint totally reduced. That is, each fragment in its place.
"The fragment is half a centimetre, by half a centimetre, by half a centimetre. There we managed to put two screws of 1.2 millimetres of titanium.
"The problem with this fracture is that when Marc gets on the bike you can not expect those screws to withstand the fracture.
“You need that fracture to have consolidated. In professional athletes, the time it takes for this fracture to heal, for a person who needs a hand with a lot of strength, is approximately six weeks."
Marquez admitted he hoped to return earlier, but his hopes of racing at this weekend’s Spanish MotoGP were ended when three separate medical experts told him it was too risky.
"You don't want a rider who is going 350 kilometres per hour to have a thumb dislocated when he tries to brake the bike because he will lose the strength in that hand and he will not be able to brake,” Professor Roger de Ona said.
“But on the other hand, you don't want to harm him or his team by excessively delaying the surgery.
"We sent him to the Mayo Clinic, where we have good friends, and he was sent to the Red Bull medical team, and the decision was unanimous.
“A Bennett fracture at four weeks? Putting someone to race on a motorcycle is a totally unacceptable risk.”
Marquez hopes to return in two more weeks at Le Mans, on May 14, although even that is no guarantee.
His injury was caused by crashing into Miguel Oliveira on the third grand prix lap of 2023 in Portimao.
He has missed the most recent three rounds as a result.
