Tommy John's Surgery

Epidemics of surgeries can vary with people being very influential towards them or disagreeing on what needs to be done in order to help the person it is affecting. Over the past decade a certain surgery has become more and more relevant to young kids and adults that play a certain sport. Americas greatest pastime what we now call baseball has resulted in some of the most historic injuries. Such as that will never be forgotten such as Tommy John, Miguel Sano, and Kerry Wood and last but no least Stephen Strasburg. Now why cant people understand that your body needs rest? Your body needs to heal or you will join the list of people who have had Tommy John surgery. It is not something to be proud of, but it is certainly proven to help and have a high success rate.

Baseball is America's pastime. Everyone in this country knows a person who plays the game and the struggles they face throughout their entire baseball endeavors. Baseball is an overhead throwing sport that requires countless amount of repetition in order to perfect the art of throwing a baseball with different spins and velocities. Because baseball has become a non-season based sport in this modern era, it has risen health risks to the elbows of athletes that play continuously. The Ulnar Collateral Ligament, commonly coined as the Tommy John Ligament, is the

Russell Carrington is a 25 year old right handed relief pitcher for the MLB team the Baltimore Orioles. Carrington has been playing baseball since he was seven years old and this was his third season in the Major Leagues. Carrington was at the mound and in the motion of throwing a fastball, when he felt a “pop” in his overhand motion. He dropped to his knees and clinched his right shoulder in pain. Athletic trainers came onto the field an upon examination Carrington stated his arm felt like it was “dead” and felt like it was “catching”. Carrington was seen by the team physician. She performed ROM exercises, strength, and stability tests on his shoulder and examined his neck and head to ensure pain wasn’t coming from a pinched nerve. She concluded that further testing and imaging was necessary. Carrington had an X-ray and MRI done on his shoulder and he was diagnosed with a type II SLAP (Superior Labrum Anterior and Posterior) lesion. He didn’t want surgery done because he would miss the remainder of the season and possibly the next, so doctors prescribed non-steroid anti-inflammatory medication and five months physical therapy to strengthen the shoulder capsule. After completion of physical therapy, the pain didn’t improve and arthroscopy surgery was recommended.

Tommy John surgery is a common procedure used to repair torn rotator cuffs. Named after a former MLB player who also suffered with the injury, Tommy John surgery involves replacing the torn ligament with a healthy ligament in another area of your body.

The UCL will not heal on its own so surgery is the only option to heal a torn UCL. The surgery is called Tommy John surgery, which is named after a former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher who had the first surgery

There are many muscle groups at play in the smooth, fluid motion of pitching. Muscles in the shoulder, arm, back, and legs are all required to deliver a pitch. Pectoralis major, Subscapularis, Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres minor and Latissimus dorsi are all used to generate arm speed and increase pitch velocity (NCBI). However, the kinematic chain requires more than just these muscles to transfer the velocity to the ball. “Most people think pitching is all in the arm, but having a solid base is crucial to commanding pitches,” says Peyton. “Strength and conditioning for my legs and back are a really important part of my training; it helps me get a good foundation.” Legs and core are essential to generating velocity and maintaining stability throughout the pitching motion.

Coaches are more than just experts at game-day strategy. They’re also highly knowledgeable in the techniques pitchers can use to maximize their potential on the field. At the middle and high school level, many coaches and P.E. teachers are people with advanced degrees in education and exercise science. At the college and professional levels, coaches tend to be even more highly educated and experienced. Pitchers can take advantage of this wealth of knowledge to reach their peak playing ability. Not to mention, pro-level pitchers often work with personal trainers, physical therapists, and other professionals to bulk up and protect their

Baseball players and fans call it Tommy John surgery, after the pitcher who was the first to have the surgery 29 years ago. By any designation, it is one of the major advancements in sports medicine in the last quarter century. Technically it is a ulnar collateral ligament replacements procedure.

We practiced proper biomechanics to help me pitch better. Not only throwing properly is important but icing our arms after is important for relieving the pain after a game. The purpose of the bio mechanical pitching evaluation is to reduce the risk of injury or re-injury by addressing the efficiency of a pitcher's mechanics. The pitching computer program is then used to calculate the kinematics (body angles, joint velocities, and timing mechanisms) and kinetics (joint forces and torques). ( www.asmi.org/bioeval.php?page=bio_eval ).

Unfortunately, this is not Wood’s first elbow surgery. He had elbow ligament replacement surgery while in college. This time around, Wood’s surgery will require the removal of damaged

A great pitcher is recognized as someone who can throw in a game for a long time without giving up many runs to the opposing team. From the given data it is clear that many of the “best pitchers” have not racked up as many innings as other pitchers. Pitchers with very low ERAs and not many innings pitched shows that the managers are not confident in the pitchers consistency or ability to go deep into the game before getting pulled out of the game. Not being able to “go deep” into the game is a common flaw among aspiring pitchers. It is common knowledge that an extreme arm slot such as over hand and sidearm are good for getting batters out. However, these pitchers have problems with their arms being fatigued. As seen in the graphs below pitchers

Ulnar collateral ligament tear (UCL) contains a sprain to inner elbow ligament. Once significant stress is placed upon the UCL, an injury occurs. However, two UCL injury treatments include icing and excluding throwing activates for six weeks. Icing reduces inflammation, whereas not throwing influences healing. In addition, injury prevention exercises include heavy dumbbell farmer walk, squishy ball squeezes, and dumbbell wrist curls. Heavy dumbbell farmer walks specify athlete to walk Five yards while holding dumbbells. Exercise is succeeded four days per week with three sets of five, progressing into weight increases. Squishy ball squeezes require athletes to grip squishy ball frequently contracting then releasing. Exercise is succeeding three

The UCL is divided into three bundles: the posterior bundle, transverse bundle, and anterior bundle. The posterior bundle has an origin on the medial epicondyle, and insertion on the semilunar notch of the ulna. The posterior bundle is a secondary stabilizer that stabilizes the elbow when it is in flexion beyond 90 degrees, and is about 8 mm long. The second bundle is called the transverse bundle. The origin of the transverse bundle is the medial olecranon, and the insertion is the inferomedial coronoid process. This portion of the UCL does not contribute to the valgus stability. The final bundle is the anterior bundle of the UCL. The anterior bundle has an origin on the anteroinferior aspect of the medial epicondyle, and an insertion on the

Tommy John Surgery is an operation that repairs an injured elbow for mostly college baseball and pro baseball athletes but also younger athletes. Generally, the surgery is done to pitchers, left or right handed, that throw curve balls and sinker fastballs. Doctors call this the Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction. UCLR is when there is repetitive stress damage to the elbow which was done first to a former and famous baseball player named Tommy John in 1974 by Dr. Frank Jobe. The surgical operation is done by which a ligament in the medial elbow is removed and then replaced with a different tendon in the body. This tendon is often taken from the hamstring, forearm, or foot of the person (Baseball Reference). The procedure takes the tendon and threads it through like a figure eight pattern with holes that are drilled into the humerus and ulna bone. Most people say it’s called the “dead arm injury” (Baseball Reference).

It is usually indicated for pain relief caused by distal RU disruption or RU arthritis and improves pronation and supination. Its limitations include the possible developments of ulna impingement syndrome, decreased grip strength and ulnar translation of carpals (44)(45). Since it leaves the patient with low functionality, it is preferred for the elderly. It may also be combined with ECU or FCU tendon slings to provide more ulnar support (46)(6). Various hemiresection procedures with interposition of soft tissues between the remaining ulnar stump and radius are another option. A more function preserving choice is the Sauvé-Kapandji procedure involving arthrodesis of DRUJ which is more commonly preferred in young patients. Forearm pronation and supination are maintained by creating a pseudoarthrosis of the ulna just proximal to the DRUJ arthrodesis. It differs from the Darrach procedure in that it preserves ulnar support of the wrist, as the distal radioulnar ligaments and ulnocarpal ligaments are maintained but painful instability of the proximal ulna stump may persist