The complication Lesnar suffered was a bowel perforation, a pus-forming infection eroding through the wall of the colon. If the perforation is contained, medical treatment and percutaneous drainage generally result in full recovery. If the perforation is not contained, if large volumes of pus and stool spill into the abdominal cavity, then emergency surgery is the only hope for survival and death is an expected outcome. At best a patient could expect to lose all or part of his colon and be incapacitated for years. It appears, from what Lesnar explained on “SportsCenter,” that he was diagnosed on the razor-thin border between these two extremes.
If he had gone to surgery, all or part of the colon would have been removed. The healthy bowel would be diverted to a hole in the abdominal wall — a “fistula” — so stool could have been drained into a colostomy bag. After a period of recovery, taking many months, it’s possible the colostomy could be reversed — allowing normal function of the bowel — but the recovery from this second surgery would again require several months. If reversing the colostomy were not feasible, Lesnar would have been bound to wear a colostomy bag for life; training for MMA, much less competing, would have been impossible.
Brock Lesnar’s Illness Could Have Had A Much Worse Outcome
Many on the Internet (myself included) were doubting some of the dire comments made about Lesnar’s health by Dana White during this whole ordeal. But judging by the description of the actual illness it sounds like we were close to not only seeing Brock never return to the cage, but also him possibly battling for his life.
It is a very good thing to see that he has put back the weight he lost and also is planning to come back by summer. To have the biggest draw in the sport back is a very exciting thing for MMA fans.
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