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Prior upper extremity surgery increases injury risk in collegiate athletes
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Published results showed collegiate athletes experienced more upper extremity injuries and missed days due to upper extremity injury when they had a history of upper extremity surgery prior to collegiate athletics.
Caitlin M. Rugg, MD, MS, and colleagues compared data on sport played, seasons played, injuries, days missed and orthopedic imaging and surgical procedures among Division I collegiate athletes with vs. without prior upper extremity surgery. Researchers performed a subgroup analysis for shoulder surgery, elbow surgery and wrist and/or hand surgery.
Of the 1,145 athletes who completed pre-participation evaluations between 2003 and 2009, results showed 6.7% of athletes underwent at least one pre-collegiate upper extremity surgical procedure. Researchers found athletes who participated in men’s water polo, baseball and football had more commonly undergone prior upper extremity surgery.
Patients who underwent prior upper extremity surgery had a higher rate of collegiate upper extremity injury, missed more days per season because of the upper extremity injury and had more upper extremity injuries compared with controls. Researchers noted the upper extremity surgery group also missed more days per season, underwent more MRI scans and had more orthopedic surgical procedures per season. Subgroup analysis showed comparable outcomes on all measures between the elbow and wrist and/or hand subgroup with the control group.
“As a group, athletes with a history of upper extremity surgery were more likely to have an upper extremity injury in college and missed more days due to upper extremity injury. However, subgroup analysis revealed that athletes with history of shoulder surgery were those who actually had increased rates of injury, days missed and orthopedic surgery, whereas elbow and wrist/hand surgery athletes were no different than controls in these outcomes,” Rugg told Healio.com/Orthopedics. “Our findings suggest that athletes beginning college with a history of shoulder surgery should be closely examined and monitored for residual deficits, and injury prevention efforts should focus on this at-risk population.” – by Casey Tingle
Disclosure: Rugg reports he has no relevant financial disclosures.
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