The news that Valentino Rossi was admitted to hospital yesterday with a case of appendicitis, but was released without having surgery to remove his appendix, raised a number of questions among followers of MotoGP. Sensible people that they are, the Italian website GPOne.com decided to call Dr Claudio Costa, the head of the Clinica Mobile, to get his vision on the situation.
Dr. Costa revealed that he had spoken to Rossi about the issue, and had offered some advice on the course of action to be followed. "I can confirm the news which as emerged so far," Costa told GPone.com. "The results of the tests show that the situation does not require surgery. Valentino can recuperate with just some medication, and everything should be fine."
Dr. Costa also warned that Rossi was not yet in the clear, however. "It's possible that infection can take place in that part of the intestine, which can result in inflamation. The problem now is that such cases can recur, even if they've been successfully treated." Rossi had consulted Dr. Costa on the best thing to do next. "Rossi asked me how long it would take before he could ride again if he decided to have an operation," Dr. Costa told GPOne.com. "I answered that it would be just a couple of days."
For the moment, it seems that Rossi has decided to follow the treatment prescribed by the doctors at the hospital, and see how the situation develops. "Of course, if he suffers a relapse, say, on the Thursday before the tests, he'd be forced to miss them," Dr. Costa said. "But Rossi is an extremely intelligent guy, and right now he is weighing up the best thing to do."
