Schwarzenegger undergoes surgery after breaking leg during family ski vacation in Idaho

Tuesday, December 26th 2006, 6:19 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger underwent surgery Tuesday to repair a broken leg and was expected to make a full recovery, although he probably will be on crutches for his second inauguration next month, officials said.

The 59-year-old governor, actor and former bodybuilder fractured his right femur while skiing with his family in Sun Valley, Idaho, during the weekend.

He underwent a 90-minute operation in which cables and screws were used to wire the broken bone back together.

``Following the surgery, the governor was awake, alert and talking in the recovery room,'' said Dr. Kevin Ehrhart, who performed the operation at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica and also repaired former President Reagan's broken hip in 2001.

Schwarzenegger does not intend to delay his inauguration Jan. 5, said spokeswoman Julie Soderlund.

The fracture is the governor's third medical problem in just over a year.

In January, he needed 15 stitches to repair his cut lip after colliding with a car while riding his motorcycle in Los Angeles. He also spent several hours at a University of California, Davis, hospital last December with a rapid heartbeat while he had stomach flu.

Officials haven't said which trail the governor was skiing at Sun Valley when he broke his leg. The resort has a black diamond trail dubbed ``Arnold's Run'' in honor of Schwarzenegger.