For now, the small piece of bone is floating in a container at home. Royals starter Nathan Karns has plans for it, of course. Maybe a necklace, he says. Maybe a keepsake to mark another surgery overcome.
“I’ve got to figure out how to clean it off,” Karns said.
On July 19, a surgeon in Dallas removed a small piece of rib from near Karns’ right shoulder as part of a procedure to address thoracic outlet syndrome, a neurogenic condition caused by the compression of nerves near the neck and shoulder. The removal of the rib — officially known as a first rib resection — is meant to alleviate stress on the nerve and solve discomfort in the arm.