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Evaluation and management of elbow injuries in the adolescent overhead athlete

Authors :
Austin M Looney
Paolo D Rigor
Blake M Bodendorfer
Source :
SAGE Open Medicine, Vol 9 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
SAGE Publishing, 2021.

Abstract

With an increased interest in youth sports, the burden of overhead throwing elbow injuries accompanying early single-sport focus has steadily risen. During the overhead throwing motion, valgus torque can reach and surpass Newton meters (N m) during the late cocking and early acceleration phases, which exceeds the tensile strength (22.7–33 N m) of the ulnar collateral ligament. While the ulnar collateral ligament serves as the primary valgus stabilizer between and degrees of elbow flexion, other structures about the elbow must contribute to stability during throwing. Depending on an athlete’s stage of skeletal maturity, certain patterns of injury are observed with mechanical failures resulting from increased medial laxity, lateral-sided compression, and posterior extension shearing forces. Together, these injury patterns represent a wide range of conditions that arise from valgus extension overload. The purpose of this article is to review common pathologies observed in the adolescent overhead throwing athlete in the context of functional anatomy, osseous development, and throwing mechanics. Operative and non-operative management and their associated outcomes will be discussed for these injuries.

Subjects

Subjects :
Medicine (General)
R5-920

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20503121
Volume :
9
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
SAGE Open Medicine
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.7068217d486e476a975191befb42046c
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1177/20503121211003362