The Lions added a wide receiver in Greg Dortch during free agency who has a stranger-than-fiction history of puncturing his small intestine landing on a pylon. What happened to him medically and what is his outlook?
Here is the excerpt from my medical review of Dortch:
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(The following information and analysis is based on available public information. Age in parentheses is at start of 2026 season.)
Greg Dortch, WR (28)
Contract: 1 year, $1.075M guaranteed, up to $1.4M
Concern level 2/10
The recent chest injury designation could mean a lot of things – from a pec strain (common) to SC joint sprain (uncommon) to lung pneumothorax (see Cade Cunningham, uncommon). I haven’t found a definitive diagnosis for Dortch yet. Most non-surgical “chest” injuries should be healed up by now, which seems to be the case here.
What’s really remarkable is the intestinal injury he suffered in college. Who knew pylons could cause such damage?
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Dortch had what is medically known as an intestinal tract perforation. He described symptoms of feeling “hollow”. When an intestinal perf happens, there can be a leak of air from the intestines into the abdominal cavity. Dortch’s “hollow” feeling may have been due to his abdomen filling up with air like a balloon.
An intestinal perforation is a serious issue that can become life-threatening due to the risk of infection. Dortch and the medical staff did the right thing by seeking an emergency room evaluation immediately after the game.
Urgent surgery was performed to repair the intestinal perforation, and Dortch has been fine since. There are minimal concerns going forward.
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This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Detroit Lions Free Agency Injury Report: Greg Dortch, WR