POP/ROCK - March 23, 1990

Estefan Update: Surgeons on Thursday implanted metal rods in pop singer Gloria Estefan’s back, broken when a tractor-trailer rig plowed into her tour bus. Dr. Victor Frankel, of the Hospital for Joint Diseases in Manhattan, said that the operation on the Miami Sound Machine singer was “successful--there were no complications.” The operation lasted about three hours and 20 minutes. Doctors said that Estefan’s chances of recovery were “excellent” and the risk of paralysis was “exceedingly rare,” and she should recuperate within six months.