1. Changes in elbow joint contact area in symptomatic valgus instability of the elbow in baseball players
- Author
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Takayoshi Yamaguchi, Eiji Kondo, Nozomu Inoue, Yuki Matsui, Daisuke Momma, Jun Oohinata, Norimasa Iwasaki, and Kyosuke Numaguchi
- Subjects
Adult ,Joint Instability ,Male ,musculoskeletal diseases ,Science ,Elbow ,Computed tomography ,Baseball ,Article ,Young Adult ,Elbow Joint ,Cartilage injury ,Humans ,Medicine ,Dominant side ,Orthodontics ,Musculoskeletal system ,Multidisciplinary ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,biology ,business.industry ,musculoskeletal system ,biology.organism_classification ,Joint contact ,Biomechanical Phenomena ,Bone quality and biomechanics ,body regions ,Valgus ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Athletes ,Ligament ,Stress, Mechanical ,Tomography, X-Ray Computed ,business ,Contact area - Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the joint contact area of the dominant side and that of the non-dominant side without valgus instability in symptomatic pitchers. Ten symptomatic elbow medial ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) deficient baseball pitchers participated in this study. Computed tomography (CT) data from the dominant and non-dominant elbows were obtained with and without elbow valgus stress. The CT imaging data of each elbow joint were reconstructed using a 3D reconstruction software package, and the radiocapitellar and ulnohumeral joint contact areas were calculated. The center of the contact area and the translation from the position without stress to the position with valgus stress were also calculated. With elbow valgus stress, the contact area changed, and the center of the radiocapitellar joint contact area translated significantly more laterally in the dominant elbow than in the non-dominant elbow (P = 0.0361). In addition, the center of the ulnohumeral joint contact area translated significantly more posteriorly in the dominant elbow than in the non-dominant elbow (P = 0.0413). These changes in contact areas could be the reason for cartilage injury at the posterior trochlea in pitchers with UCL deficiency.
- Published
- 2021