Lindros Set to Undergo Surgery Today

Eric Lindros was scheduled to undergo surgery today to drain fluid that accumulated in his chest cavity, an unexpected turn for the Philadelphia Flyer star in his recovery from a collapsed lung. He will be hospitalized for four or five days in Philadelphia and is not expected to play again this season, a serious blow to the Flyers’ playoff hopes.

Lindros, 26, looked pale and weak at a news conference before he was released from Baptist Hospital in Nashville, but said he was “getting better every day . . . You don’t worry about the next game. You don’t worry about the first round. You wonder what’s going to happen in the next hour.”

That proved eerily prescient when he returned to Philadelphia and doctors decided a high fever that spiked Wednesday night indicated blood and other fluid in his chest was infected and had to be removed. The fluid, between his lung and diaphragm, was preventing the lung from fully expanding.

The procedure to be performed at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, called a video thoroscopy, is considered minor. However, the ordeal has weakened Lindros, whose body has yet to regenerate the approximately three pints of blood that seeped into his chest after his lung collapsed early last Friday. He has been receiving medication to stimulate his bone marrow into producing more red blood cells, but he has refused a transfusion.

“We, as an organization, [General Manager] Bob Clarke, [Coach] Roger Neilson, decided we should tell the team to think in terms of going the rest of the season and the playoffs without Eric,” said Ed Snider, the Flyers’ chairman.

Larry Kaiser, the chest surgeon who is supervising Lindros’ care and was to perform the operation today, said Lindros was disappointed to learn he had to return to the hospital and could not attend the Flyers’ game against the Penguins on Thursday.

“He was under the impression that this was behind him and he was on his way home,” Kaiser said. “I think he dislikes being in the hospital. He was clearly disappointed, but he understands.”

Kaiser also said he saw no evidence of additional bleeding into the chest cavity. “In terms of full recovery, that remains to be determined,” Kaiser said. “I expect him to be fully normal after this and be playing as great as he ever played. I can’t give you any kind of time estimate. Right now, he needs to be taken care of.”

Doctors are still unsure what caused the blood to seep into Lindros’ chest. He was checked hard several times during the Flyers’ 2-1 victory at Nashville last Thursday and also fell on his stick, but he looked normal afterward and did not complain of any pain. Later that night, he began to experience chest pains and had difficulty breathing; his roommate, Keith Jones, found him lying in the bathtub of their hotel room and summoned the team’s trainer, who, in turn, called the Predators’ doctor.

When he was admitted to the hospital, doctors found his right lung was pushing against his heart and immediately inserted a tube to reinflate the lung and ease his breathing. They believe a blood vessel ruptured, because they found no signs of a broken bone that might have punctured the lung.

“He didn’t recognize the seriousness of his injury,” said Dr. Richard Garman, who works with the Predators. “His pain threshold is so high.”

Doctors have said Lindros needs three to four weeks to regenerate the blood he lost.