Rate of Return to Pitching and Performance After Tommy John Surgery in Major League Baseball Pitchers

Abstract

There is a high rate of RTP in professional baseball after UCL reconstruction. Performance declined before surgery and improved after surgery. When compared with demographic-matched controls, patients who underwent UCL reconstruction had better results in multiple performance measures. Reconstruction of the UCL allows for a predictable and successful return to the MLB.

What Have We Learned From Taking Care of Elite Athletes?

“…In a series of 179 pitchers with UCL tears who underwent reconstruction, 148 (83%) were able to return to professional play an average of 20.5 months after surgery. 2 Pitchers showed significantly improved performance postoperatively compared with preoperatively, as measured by fewer losses, lower losing percentage, and lower earned run average.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] The inherent paradox of sports surgery is that its growth is matched only by its desire for self-renewal. Surgeons are constantly striving to reinvent approaches, instrumentation, and implants with the goal of better restoring anatomy, function, and recovery.…”

Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction; the Rush Experience

“…3,6,8 The goals of this study were to report the patent demographics, clinical outcomes, return-to-sport rate, and complications for all UCLRs performed at a single institution from January 2004 to December 2014. The most common graft choice in this study was an ipsilateral palmaris longus autograft, used in 59.3% of patients, followed by a hamstring autograft, used in 25.4% of patients (Table 4).…”

The Effect of the Steroid Era on Major League Baseball Hitters: Did It Enhance Hitting?

“…It is well known that several athletes used PED during this era [3,6]. Most performance studies looking at MLB players have focused on their return to sport and performance after various injuries and operations including medial ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction [7][8][9], shoulder surgery [10,11], and cervical and lumbar disc herniations [12]. These studies were mostly conducted in MLB pitchers and did not evaluate batting performance or comment on timing as it related to the steroid era.…”

“…The limitations include the use of publicly available data, although this has been the source of data in numerous high level studies [7,11,[23][24][25][26], as well as lack of control for confounding factors. The study also did not evaluate all hitting parameter including singles, doubles, triples, strikeouts, etc.…”