Jeff Kepple

Professor Reed
19 July 2014
Annotated Bibliography
Bushwell, Brandon, et al. Assessment of Maximum Pitch Velocity and Elbow Injury in Professional Baseball
Pitchers. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 38.4 (2010): 728-32. Print.
This study looked at the relationship between velocities in professional pitchers and elbow injuries. Out of
the 23 professional pitchers that were followed multiple seasons after first being contacted, there were 9
players with elbow injuries. Five of those pitchers had structural damage to the UCL. The pitchers with the
top three velocities were the three pitchers that required surgery. This study further supported the belief that
an increased velocity in pitching put the players at a greater risk for elbow injury.
Cain, E., et al. Outcome of Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction of the Elbow in 1281 Athletes: Results in 743
Athletes with Minimum 2- Year Follow-Up. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 38.12 (2010): 2425-
34. Print.
This study focused on the rate of return to the overhead throwing sport that was not specified in the field of
baseball. It determined how many of the athletes were able to return to action after Tommy John Surgery. It
states that 79% of participants were contacted for a follow up visit and 83% of those participants returned to
action at the previous level of competition or higher. The average time of recovery to full competition was
11.6 months. Lastly, there were only complications with the surgery in 20% of cases.
Davis, J. T., et al. The Effect of Pitching Biomechanics on the Upper Extremity in Youth and Adolescent Baseball
Pitchers. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 37.8 (2009): 1483-91. Print.
This article focuses on the actual biomechanics of the throwing motion and how that relates to the injuries
that have been occurring lately. They focused on the humoral action and used different biomechanical
pitching parameters to determine the efficiency of the arm. The results showed that youth athletes from the
ages 9-13 had a decreased likelihood of getting hurt when performing 3 of the 5 parameters correctly because
this resulted in less torque and strain on the elbow and the UCL.
Dodson, Christopher, et al. Medial Ulnar Collateral Ligament of the Elbow in Throwing Athletes. The American
Journal of Sports Medicine 34.12 (2006): 1926-32. Print.
This study looked at the effectiveness of the docking technique to replace a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament.
The study talk about the docking technique and looks at 100 different cases and looks at the rate of return to
the same level or better level of competition. This study found that the docking technique was very effective
in bringing athletes back to the same or better level of competition (90%). At the same time, only 3 athletes
were not able to compete athletically at all.
Erickson, Brandon, et al. Rate of Return to Pitching and Performance after Tommy John Surgery in Major League
Baseball Pitchers. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 42.3 (2013): 535-43. Print.
This study looked into the rate of recover, the performance after surgery and also compared them to pitchers
who were the control parties who did not have UCL reconstruction. They looked at pitchers who already had
medial elbow soreness or UCL deficiency and then were followed though recovery and return to baseball
and analysis was performed on each. The conclusions showed that almost all pitchers were able to return to
playing while their pitching ability improved after surgery. Overall, it shows the quality of Tommy John
Surgery.
Fleisig, Glenn, et al. Variability in Baseball Pitching Biomechanics among various Levels of Competition. Sports
Biomechanics 8.1 (2009): 10-21. Print.
This study looked at the difference in biomechanics from 93 healthy male pitchers. The looked at many
different variables such as stride length and hip rotation and humoral action and many other motions. The
differences in these mechanics had more variability in younger athletes as compared to professional athletes
and collegiate athletes. Even after finding the variability, they found no significance for the mechanics
causing injury. This article is focused on the consistency of mechanics not the actual mechanics causing the
injury.
Implemans, Bianca, et al. Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injury. Shoulder and Elbow (2013): 111-115. Print.
This article is about the actual injury associated with Tommy John Surgery. It gives a background to the
ligament and the anatomy around the medial part of the elbow. It also gives the diagnosis methods that allow
doctors to determine the severity of the injury. It also shows how the docking technique is better than the
figure 8 method. This article will give a great background to the overall problem with the tearing of the
Ulnar Collateral Ligament and show how they deal with them in the medical world.
Lyman, Stephen, et al. Effect of Pitch Type, Pitch Count, and Pitching Mechanics on Risk of Elbow and Shoulder
Pain in Youth Baseball Pitchers. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 30.4 (2002): 463-8. Print.
This study focuses on the impact of pitch counts and mechanics on the elbows of youth pitchers. This study
looked into 467 pitchers from the ages 9-14 and looked at their pitch counts as well as pitch selection. This
means that the youth pitchers that throw curveballs and sliders has an increased risk of getting elbow and
shoulder injuries. More than 50% of youth pitchers had elbow pain, and this study concluded that pitch
counts and a lack of breaking pitches would be very beneficial.
Kaplan, Kevin, et al. Comparison of Shoulder Range of Motion, Strength, and Playing Time in Uninjured High
School Baseball Pitchers Who Reside in Warm- and Cold-Weather Climates. The American Journal of
Sports Medicine 39.2 (2011): 319-28. Print.
This article speaks to the difference in weather in injuries for youth pitchers. The weather could alter the
bodys response and it can also affect the time the players spend on the field. This article showed that the
players who played in warm weather were able to have a greater range of motion in their shoulders and
elbows while also playing more year round while the cold weather players had less range of motion and
played less throughout the year, Overall, low range of motion and high participation are at greater risk of
injury.
Olsen, Samuel, et al. Risk Factors for Shoulder and Elbow Injuries in Adolescent Baseball Pitchers. The American
Journal of Sports Medicine 34.6 (2006): 905-12. Print.
This article focuses on the impact of excess use on young pitchers and the consequences of that. This study
followed 95 adolescent pitchers who had recently had shoulder or elbow surgery. They then did analysis of
these pitchers previous doing in terms of workload and pain from filling out a survey. The group of pitchers
that were used the most and had the most consistent workload were the ones that got injured the most. They
found a correlation between workload and injury.