Menino Expected to Make ‘Full Recovery’ After Breaking His Leg [Updated]

According to doctors at Brigham and Women's Hospital, the mayor will be on crutches for a couple of months.

boston mayor tom menino

Photo by Regina Moglievskaya

UPDATE 04/13/2013, 11:55 a.m.: In a statement, two Brigham and Women’s Hospital doctors, Dr. Mitchel B. Harris, chief Orthopedic Trauma Service, and Dr. Michael J. Weaver, instructor of Orthopedic Surgery, said that Menino had surgery earlier today and is expected to make a full recovery. He’ll wear a walking boot and be on crutches for a couple of months. Here’s the full statement:

Mayor Menino twisted his right ankle, sustaining a spiral fracture of the distal fibula. This common injury often requires surgical repair. Today he underwent a procedure to repair the fibula. The surgery lasted less than one hour and included the placement of a plate and screws to repair the broken bone. He tolerated the surgery well and without complication. He is resting comfortably now. He will be in a walking boot and will require the use of crutches for the next couple of months. It is our expectation that Mayor Menino will make a full and complete recovery.

Earlier:

Mayor Tom Menino is back in the hospital—this time with a leg problem.

According to spokeswoman Dot Joyce, Mayor Menino twisted his ankle early Friday, and proceeded to ice it, but when swelling continued he went to the hospital where doctors determined that he had fractured his fibula. “He is fine,” Joyce said in a brief phone call from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she was with Menino. “He will be here overnight.”

According to reports, the fracture will require surgery over the weekend. Janet Wu of WCVB reports the mayor might need “screws” and a “possible plate.”

The Globe reports that the mayor was on his way into an event  at the Joseph Lee School on Talbot Avenue, when he twisted his ankle, and fell to the ground.

It wasn’t long ago that Menino found himself in a hospital bed at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for several weeks, recovering from an acute viral infection and a blood clot that required his early return from a vacation in Italy. And during his long hospital stay, his condition worsened.

As the Globe reported back in November, “Menino suffered another setback and will remain hospitalized indefinitely as doctors try to determine what caused a fresh surge of pain in his ailing back.”

The mayor was later moved to a rehab facility, as he slowly started to get better, where he was then diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. All the while, City Hall was bubbling over with speculation as to whether Menino would go at another run for the top seat, which, in the end, he decided he wouldn’t.

A mayor with a bad leg isn’t likely to get around to neighborhoods for essential ribbon cuttings, something Menino himself noted during his official speech declaring this would be his last term in office.

This isn’t the first time Menino has broken a bone, either. In February 2012, the 70-year-old mayor had to walk around with a protective boot on his foot after suffering from some pain. When he went to the doctor’s office to get the pain examined, they had discovered Menino had a broken toe.