Doctors who performed Marc Marquez’s fourth surgery on his right humerus on Thursday at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota declared the treatment a success.
Six-time premier world champion Marc Marquez travelled to the United States after the Italian Grand Prix on Tuesday for a rotational humeral osteotomy, an operation required to rotate Marquez’s humerus bone in his right arm by 30 degrees after it healed wrongly.
As a result of not being able to move his arm naturally, the Factory Honda rider found himself unable to use his natural riding style, with Marquez acknowledging at Mugello that without the procedure, his career would likely have to stop within the next year or two.
The Repsol Honda racer cracked his right humerus in a fall at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez in July 2020, setting in motion a chain of events that has led to this point after facing a failed return to activity a week later, more damage as a result, repeated bone transplants, and an infection.
He admitted last weekend at Mugello that he’s been riding but also living in chronic pain since then, and he finally got the go-ahead for the surgery halfway through the Italian Grand Prix weekend, causing him to take a third career break to fly to the United States for the surgery.
Honda issued a statement on Friday morning confirming that Marquez’s surgery went as planned, as he now strives to get fully healthy so that he can ride with his unique style once again when he returns to MotoGP racing, which might be delayed until 2023 depending on his recuperation.
The problem meant that the bone forced his arm into an awkward position, causing pain even when he wasn’t riding a MotoGP bike. Dr Sanchez Sotelo approved the procedure, which included breaking his arm, rotating the bone back into place, and allowing it to recover naturally.
The operation took about three hours and resulted in a “satisfactory” outcome. Marquez is expected to stay in the United States for the next few days under precautionary observation before returning to Spain to continue his recovery.
“Today we had the opportunity to operate on the right humerus of Mr Marc Marquez,” said the chair of the division of shoulder and elbow surgery at the Mayo Clinic.
“The procedure was completed in approximately three hours. Despite the complexity of the procedure, the final outcome was satisfactory.”
“Surgery consisted in removing the proximal two screws of the posterior plate previously placed by Dr Samuel Antuna on December of 2020, followed by a rotational humeral osteotomy.”
“Such a procedure involves creating a transverse cut of the humeral bone to rotate the humerus along its long axis. The amount of rotation performed today was approximately 30 degrees of external rotation.”
“The humerus was stabilised in the new position using an anterior plate with multiple screws. Surgery was completed eventfully. We would like to wish Mr Marquez a swift recovery and a successful return to his professional career.”
Marquez’s comeback to action is still unknown, with the 29-year-old emphasising at Mugello that it will only happen when both he and his doctors believe he is fully prepared — a process that might take months.
Honda test rider Stefan Bradl will replace Marquez in this weekend’s Catalan Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, and while the German hasn’t been confirmed beyond the Spanish race, it’s probable he’ll fill in until Marquez returns.
