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Increases in Tommy John surgeries likely after elbow injury in young athletes
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ORLANDO, Fla. — Researchers observed an increase in the incidence of ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction in young athletes between the ages of 15 and 19 years old, according to study results.
Brandon J. Erickson, MD, of Rush University Medical Center, Midwest Orthopedics, and colleagues conducted a retrospective study using the private-payer database, the PearlDiver Supercomputer, to identify 790 young athletes who underwent ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (UCLR), commonly referred to as Tommy John surgery, between 2007 and 2011. Six hundred ninety-five of the patients were male.
The researchers performed statistical analysis using STATA version 12.1 (Statacorp) and used CPT code 24346 as their identifier.
Brandon J. Erickson
“Our study showed that the highest number of Tommy John surgeries were performed in patients aged 15 to 19 [years],” Erickson told Healio.com/Orthopedics. “Similarly, this age group had the highest rate of growth of Tommy John surgeries over time between 2007 and 2011.”
The average annual growth for incidences of Tommy John surgeries was 5.72%, according to the researchers. Incident rates increased at a rate of 6% per year in the 15- to 19-year-old group, according to the researchers.
Erickson reported that when first beginning the study, the researchers hypothesized that the highest number of Tommy John surgeries would be performed in teenage athletes based on clinical experience at Rush.
“We did not think the difference in the number of surgeries between the 15- to 19-year-old (57% of all surgeries) and 20- to 24-year-old (22% of all surgeries) age groups would be as large as it was,” Erickson said.
According to the researchers, in the U.S., more procedures were performed in the south region than any other region. Additionally, over time, procedure numbers increased significantly.
“The results are concerning, as more and more young patients are requiring this surgery,” Erickson said. “Although several preventative programs have been instituted, as an orthopedic community, we need to continue to work to find new and better ways to prevent these injuries from happening.” – by Monica Jaramillo
Reference:
Erickson BJ, et al. Paper #67. Presented at: American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting; July 7-12, 2015; Orlando, Fla.
Disclosures: Erickson reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.