Medial elbow injuries in the throwing athlete

Abstract

There has been an epidemic increase in injuries to the elbow in our youth sports over the past 15 years. Initially, career-ending elbow injuries occurred almost exclusively in the professional population. The landmark procedure developed by Dr. Frank Jobe, colloquially termed "Tommy John surgery" after the initial player in whom he performed the surgical procedure, allowed roughly two-thirds of professional athletes to return to play at or near the same level. As the surgical procedure became more widespread, modifications of the technique by Jobe and many other contributors raised the return-to-play level to 85%-94% of players regaining the ability to return to sport at the preinjury level. Almost simultaneously, the emphasis on velocity in the professional ranks led to an unintentional increase in stress on the throwing elbow. This was magnified in our athletes by the advent of year-round sports, as well as the formation of "showcase" events to demonstrate skills and measure velocity. This, unfortunately, has resulted in an increase in both repetitive stress injuries and acute traumatic injuries in our young athletes. The purpose of this article is to discuss age-related injuries from both a preventative standpoint and a treatment standpoint.

Keywords: Elbow; MUCL; medial apophyseal injury; medial epicondyle fracture; medial ulnar collateral ligament; throwing elbow.