Twins Video
A nagging shoulder injury continued to bother Alex Kirilloff following his return from the injured list in September. It became bad enough in the playoffs that he needed to be removed from the ALDS roster.
Kirilloff was originally diagnosed with a torn labrum, the ring of cartilage in the shoulder that improves the joint’s stability. Depending on the location of the tear, rehabilitation can take upwards of 6-8 months following surgery before the athlete is cleared to return to play full-time.
Luckily, Kirilloff’s labrum was discovered to be intact, which allowed his surgical team to perform a bursectomy, a much less invasive and traumatic procedure. There are many bursae located in and around the shoulder, with the most prominent being the subacromial bursa.
This fluid-filled sac sits between the supraspinatus tendon (the supraspinatus is a rotator cuff muscle) and the nearby bone, reducing the amount of friction expounded upon the tissue. Shoulder pain resembling a rotator cuff or labrum injury may be a result of subacromial bursa irritation. Removal of the bursa often relieves pain and improves range of motion.
Athletes can often return to play in relatively short order, so, barring any major setbacks, Kirilloff shouldn’t be expected to begin the 2024 regular season on the IL. There also shouldn’t be any major concerns for future rotator cuff injury as proper strength training and other rehabilitative procedures should reduce the risk of tendon irritation.
All things considered, this was a best-case scenario for Kirilloff and the Twins. Bursectomies fall under the nebulous “clean-up procedure” umbrella and spare the surrounding muscular and joint stabilizing structures. While this was Kirilloff’s third surgery of his career (Tommy John while in the minors and two wrist surgeries), it was by far the least significant and concerning.







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