According to a doctor who treated Lionel Messi earlier this season, the Barcelona star had played at least three games in spite of having kidney stones. The specialist who works at the Dexeus University Hospital in Barcelona claimed the Argentine forward had played with tranquilizers.
Messi has been hit by injuries and medical conditions this season that has seen him miss out on several games for the Catalan club. The 28-year-old missed two months of the season after suffering a ligament tear in his knee in a game against Las Palmas in the last week of September and only returned as a substitute in the Clasico against Real Madrid.
He was also ruled out of the FIFA Club World Cup semi-final due to the kidney stones – a condition known as renal colic. A Barcelona statement at the time had stated: “Leo Messi will not be playing in today’s Club World Cup semi-final against Guangzhou Evergrande. The Argentinian striker is suffering from renal colic, a type of abdominal pain commonly caused by kidney stones.”
Messi eventually returned to the squad for the final and also scored as the Camp Nou club beat River Plate 3-0. But in he missed two training sessions in the second week of February as he received treatment for kidney stones. He was rested for the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Valencia as Luis Enrique played a second string squad after winning the first leg 7-0.
Messi will continue to have problems with kidney stones: Doctor
According to Dr. Francisco Ruiz Marcellan, a urology chief at the Instituto Dexeus, Messi had played in spite of the pain the stones caused in his abdomen.
“Leo Messi played three games with the stone in his kidney,” Marcellan told Divendres.
“He played with tranquilisers as he had not yet expelled it.”
It is understood that Messi had undergone Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy, a non-invasive procedure that uses sound waves to disintegrate kidney stones into smaller pieces so they can be expelled. And the doctor warned that Messi’s problems were not over, concluding that Messi’s genetic makeup could see him have more stones in the future.
“It is a mechanical energy that generates the capacity to break up the stone," Marcellan explained.
“With his genetic predisposition, it is very easy for him to have between two and eight stones in his kidney until he is 50 years old.”
