Kerry off trail after shoulder tear fixed

BOSTON - Democrat John Kerry had complication-free outpatient surgery Wednesday to repair a tear in his right shoulder and biceps tendons and will be back shaking voters' hands soon, although not too forcefully.

The four-term Massachusetts senator planned to be off the presidential campaign trail for the rest of the week. Dr. Bertram Zarins, chief of sports medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, said Kerry would be in pain for a few days and probably in need of an ice pack and narcotic painkillers.

Zarins said Kerry was smiling and talking shortly after coming out of the 45-minute procedure. "He joked a little bit and said, "I hope I didn't reveal any state secrets,"' Zarins said.

Kerry tore his subscapularis tendon, one of the tendons that make up the rotator cuff, in January while campaigning in Iowa. He wrenched his right shoulder while bracing himself during an abrupt stop on his campaign bus.

"I think he'll be shaking hands fairly quickly," said Zarins, who also treats the New England Patriots, the New England Revolution and the Boston Bruins sports teams. "We're not going to tell him not to do it."

Kerry, 60, was under general anesthesia for the surgery. Zarins said he made an incision about an inch and a half long, discovered a small tear in the biceps tendon next to the subscapularis and then made a smaller, second incision and repaired both. He wasn't sure how many stitches it took to close the wound, but said he would evaluate Kerry over the next few days and remove the stitches in a week to 10 days.

Kerry injured his right shoulder in 1992 after a fall from his bicycle. This injury is new, Zarins said, although the earlier accident could have made the shoulder more vulnerable to injury.

Kerry's primary physician released a letter this week stating that he is fit and in "excellent health."

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