Stress fracture of the olecranon in an adult baseball player

Abstract

Stress fractures of the olecranon caused by repetitive stress force have infrequently been reported as a cause of elbow pain in adult athletes, engaged in throwing and pitching sports. We diagnosed as a stress fracture of the olecranon by clinical and radiographic findings and treated surgically. The patient returned to playing baseball at a competitive level and was asymptomatic 4 months after the first operation. However, the patient re-injured the olecranon and a second surgical treatment was performed almost 1 year after the first operation. After the second surgery, the patient returned to playing baseball at a competitive level and was free from elbow symptoms. We presented a stress fracture of the olecranon in a semi-professional adult baseball player and suggested that surgical treatment is necessary.

Ulnar Shaft Stress Fracture in a High School Softball Pitcher

“…1,10,13 These have occurred in the region of the olecranon and the proximal medial aspect of the ulna but not at the shaft of the ulna, as in our patient. As opposed to a torsional mechanism of injury owing to pronation, as in softball pitching, ulnar stress fractures in baseball pitchers are more likely due to hyperextension and valgus forces at the elbow.…”

Bone marrow lesions: A systematic diagnostic approach

“…[141516] Rarer locations are: rib fractures in weightlifters, olecranon in baseball players, hook of the hamate in golf players, tennis players, or baseball players, and proximal ulna in throwing athletes. [17181920]…”

Ulnar collateral ligament tear and olecranon stress fracture nonunion in a collegiate pitcher

“…The transverse olecranon stress fracture pattern described by Suzuki et al,21 or the first type of stress fracture described by Nakaji et al, 12 was likely the mechanism of olecranon stress fracture in our patient. When he was diagnosed with an olecranon stress fracture several years before the most recent presentation, an epiphyseal plate injury had developed.…”

“…7 In an adult with a closed physis, these stresses can lead to a stress fracture related to the points of mechanical impingement of the proximal ulna and olecranon during throwing. 1,2,12,13,19,21 However, very few biomechanical data have been published on the cause of olecranon stress fractures and how these and other forces produce the different fracture patterns.…”

“…Nakaji et al 12 postulated that there are 3 primary types of stress fracture affecting the olecranon. The first is a stress fracture of the olecranon epiphysis that prevents its closure and leads, radiographically, to a band of irregular calcification and a widened epiphysis.…”