ALPINE:

Grugger stable, but critical, following emergency brain surgery

Jan. 21, 2011 — The Canadian Press 

KITZBÜHEL, Austria — Austrian skier Hans Grugger was in an induced coma and in stable but critical condition Friday, a day after undergoing an emergency brain operation following a downhill training crash.

University Hospital medical director Alexandra Kofler said there is "no acute danger of him losing his life" but could not exclude complications arising in coming days.

"The operation went very well ... but we don't know yet the precise extent of all injuries," Kofler said. "The patient will be kept in an induced coma and it's hard to predict how his recovery is going to develop."

"There are a lot of different complications that could occur, like internal bleedings," Kofler said. "And in this emergency situation, we can't tell if there are other injuries to the central nervous system."

The 29-year-old Grugger fell on the demanding Streif course after losing his balance at the so-called Mausefalle, a long jump shortly after a sharp right turn. He smashed his head on the icy slope and landed motionless. He was brought to a hospital by helicopter and underwent a five-hour operation.

Kofler said Grugger also broke a chest bone and had other less serious injuries, but that all medical attention was being directed to the brain injury for now.

Grugger will undergo several medical tests over the next couple of days.

"But it's hard to do neurological tests with a patient who is in a coma," Kofler said. "But a patient in this situation also needs a lot of rest, so you can't do tests all the time."

Grugger's career has been marred by injuries. He tore knee ligaments four times between 1998 and 2009 and was sidelined with a dislocated hip in '05.

Grugger has four career World Cup victories — two in downhill and two in super-G. He finished 22nd in last year's Olympic downhill race.  S-Magazine