Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2022

Abstract

Background: Medial elbow laxity develops in throwing athletes due to valgus forces. Medial elbow instability in professional, collegiate, and high school athletes is well documented; however, the medial elbow of young throwing athletes has received less attention. This study investigated the medial elbow and common flexor tendon during applied elbow valgus stress of youth baseball players.

Methods: The study included 15 participants. The medial elbow width and thickness of the common flexor tendon were measured on ultrasound images.

Results: No significant side differences in medial elbow width or common flexor tendon were found at rest or under applied valgus stress. At rest, the medial elbow joint width was 3.34±0.94 mm on the dominant side and 3.42±0.86 mm on the non-dominant side. The dominant side increased to 3.83±1.02 mm with applied valgus stress, and the non-dominant side increased to 3.96±1.04 mm. The mean flexor tendon thickness was 3.89±0.63 mm on the dominant side and 4.02±0.70 mm on the non-dominant side.

Conclusions: These findings differ from similar studies in older throwing athletes, likely because of the lack of accumulated stress on the medial elbow of youth throwing athletes. Maintaining elbow stability in young throwing athletes is a vital step to preventing injury later in their careers.

Comments

The copy of record is available at

https://doi.org/10.5397%2Fcise.2022.00766

Copyright © 2022 Korean Shoulder and Elbow Society. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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