Management of ulnar collateral ligament injury in throwing athletes: a survey of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • BACKGROUND: Amid evidence that the number of ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstructions performed annually is on the rise, there continues to be significant variation among surgeons in the management of UCL injuries. The purpose of this paper was to survey the members of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) to assess current trends related to the comprehensive treatment of athletes presenting with UCL injury. METHODS: An online survey was distributed to the active members of the ASES. The survey was composed of 3 sections assessing the demographics of the survey-takers, presenting 7 distinct fictional clinical case scenarios of athletes with UCL injury, and posing a series of more general questions about operative and nonoperative management of UCL injuries. RESULTS: There were 159 ASES members who responded to the survey (24% of the active membership); 65 respondents (40.9%) reported >15 years of clinical experience. Of the 7 case scenarios presented, a consensus was reached to indicate the patient for surgery in 4 cases. In all 7 cases, when operative management was the preferred option, a consensus was reached to perform UCL reconstruction. The preferred method of UCL reconstruction among respondents was the docking technique (66.0%); 36.3% of respondents used platelet-rich plasma in their treatment of UCL injuries. CONCLUSION: The survey presented here shows that an overall experienced and well-trained cohort of surgeons tended to agree and often reached consensus opinions on how to approach UCL injury. Professional athletes and those with complete tears were indicated for surgery by consensus, whereas opinion was more divided on how to treat partial tears or nonprofessionals.

publication date

  • September 20, 2017

Research

keywords

  • Athletic Injuries
  • Collateral Ligament, Ulnar
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians'

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85029612267

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.jse.2017.08.005

PubMed ID

  • 28941974

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 26

issue

  • 11