Impact of Climate on Stress Ultrasound Findings of the Elbow Ulnar Collateral Ligament in Professional Baseball Pitchers: An 18-Year Study.

Background

The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is the primary soft tissue stabilizer to valgus stress in the elbow and is placed under this valgus stress during the throwing motion. Although there are known risk factors for UCL injury, it is unknown whether the UCL undergoes adaptive changes in athletes from different climates.

Purpose

To compare elbow stress ultrasound (SUS) findings between professional baseball pitchers from warm climates versus cold climates and assess significant differences in adaptive and morphologic changes in the UCL.

Study Design

Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods

Dynamic SUS evaluations were performed over 18 years on the dominant and nondominant arms of 643 professional pitchers from warm and cold climates as determined by the player's country/state of origin. Studies were compared with respect to relative UCL thickness (

Results

Players from warmer climates had significantly greater relative UCL thicknesses than players from colder climates (1.75 vs 1.50 mm, respectively;

Conclusion

Professional pitchers from warm climates had a greater side-to-side difference in UCL thickness between the dominant and nondominant arms. This may be due to the potential for year-round throwing among baseball players from warm climates. There was no difference in laxity, thickness progression, laxity progression, or the presence of additional morphologic changes.

Informations de copyright

© The Author(s) 2024.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

One or more of the authors has declared the following potential conflict of interest or source of funding: M.G.C. has received research support from Arthrex and DJO. R.A.J. has received education payments from Medinc of Texas, Liberty Surgical, Smith + Nephew and consulting fees from Zimmer Biomet. S.B.C. has received research support from Arthrex and Major League Baseball; education payments from Liberty Surgical; consulting fees from Zimmer Biomet and CONMED Linvatec; and royalties from Slack. AOSSM checks author disclosures against the Open Payments Database (OPD). AOSSM has not conducted an independent investigation on the OPD and disclaims any liability or responsibility relating thereto. Ethical approval for this study was waived by Thomas Jefferson University (iRISID-2022-1198).