Port Adelaide veteran Warren Tredrea has opted for radical surgery to extend his AFL career.

Tredrea had a synthetic ligament used in surgery on his right ankle, an injury forecast to sideline him for three months.

The 31-year-old on Monday night underwent a surgical procedure similar to the revolutionary LARS operation on Tredrea's teammate David Rodan and Sydney Swan Nick Malceski.

Both Rodan and Malceski both returned four months after having knee reconstructions.

Port Adelaide's doctor, Mark Fisher, described Tredrea's ankle injury as "potentially career threatening".

"The advantage of the synthetic ligament is that it has a great deal of flexibility, which allows him to get going a lot quicker," Dr Fisher said on Tuesday.

"The procedure is relatively new, but it has been used quite regularly in New South Wales in the rugby league and also in American footballers.

"Hopefully it means we'll be able to get Tredders training a little bit sooner than you'd otherwise expect."

Tredrea damaged two ligaments in an ankle last Saturday during Port's win over Essendon.

Dr Fisher expected the key forward to return about round 16.

"We've seen the injury before and it's certainly a serious one, which is why we're being fairly conservative with it," he said.

"But knowing Tredders, he's the sort of person who is very obsessive about his rehabilitation so it wouldn't surprise me if he came straight back in at AFL level.

"He's been remarkable in his comeback from his knee injuries and if anybody is able to come back from this injury he's certainly one of the few that could do it."

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