Risk Factors and Injury Prevention in the Throwing Athlete

Abstract: Arm injuries are the most common throwing injury, with growing concern as the most severe injuries, such as UCL reconstruction, continue to rise. Furthermore, throwing injuries are frequently recurrent, suggesting once injured, players are at increased risk for another arm injury. The incr...

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Main Authors: Daniel Kline, P.T., D.P.T, S.C.S., Sarah Kate Fischer, P.T., D.P.T., S.C.S., Garrett S. Bullock, P.T., D.P.T., D.Phil., Michael J. Kissenberth, M.D., Ellen Shanley, P.T., Ph.D., O.C.S., Charles A. Thigpen, P.T., A.T.C., Ph.D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666061X24001809
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author Daniel Kline, P.T., D.P.T, S.C.S.
Sarah Kate Fischer, P.T., D.P.T., S.C.S.
Garrett S. Bullock, P.T., D.P.T., D.Phil.
Michael J. Kissenberth, M.D.
Ellen Shanley, P.T., Ph.D., O.C.S.
Charles A. Thigpen, P.T., A.T.C., Ph.D.
author_facet Daniel Kline, P.T., D.P.T, S.C.S.
Sarah Kate Fischer, P.T., D.P.T., S.C.S.
Garrett S. Bullock, P.T., D.P.T., D.Phil.
Michael J. Kissenberth, M.D.
Ellen Shanley, P.T., Ph.D., O.C.S.
Charles A. Thigpen, P.T., A.T.C., Ph.D.
author_sort Daniel Kline, P.T., D.P.T, S.C.S.
collection DOAJ
description Abstract: Arm injuries are the most common throwing injury, with growing concern as the most severe injuries, such as UCL reconstruction, continue to rise. Furthermore, throwing injuries are frequently recurrent, suggesting once injured, players are at increased risk for another arm injury. The increase in injury rates and severity has been attributed to increases in pitching volume and year-round participation, and specialized training. Thus, initial efforts to prevent arm injuries by USA Baseball and Little League have focused on the extrinsic factor of pitching exposure in the form of pitch counts, yet arm injury rates have stayed constant. Therefore, injury prevention strategies should include extrinsic factors and address modifiable, intrinsic factors that are associated with arm injury. Collectively addressing factors, such as shoulder range of motion and strength deficits, trunk and lower extremity function, and implantation of training programs yields a comprehensive approach to reduce arm injury rates. We will use a directed acyclic graph (DAG) to organize how the internal factors (i.e., fatigue, injury history, range of motion, and strength) interact with the external factors (i.e., training load and pitching exposure) and how together they are thought contribute to potential injury and inform arm injury reduction strategies. This will provide a roadmap to build adaptable arm injury reduction strategies to improve the modifiable physical factors in context of the external factors that change over time and between throwing athletes. Level of Evidence: Level V, expert opinion.
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spelling doaj-art-d5ef631035914cf8bdd0cce3a6c4416f2025-08-20T03:18:15ZengElsevierArthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation2666-061X2025-04-017210103710.1016/j.asmr.2024.101037Risk Factors and Injury Prevention in the Throwing AthleteDaniel Kline, P.T., D.P.T, S.C.S.0Sarah Kate Fischer, P.T., D.P.T., S.C.S.1Garrett S. Bullock, P.T., D.P.T., D.Phil.2Michael J. Kissenberth, M.D.3Ellen Shanley, P.T., Ph.D., O.C.S.4Charles A. Thigpen, P.T., A.T.C., Ph.D.5ATI Physical Therapy, Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.A.Boston Ballet, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, North Carolina, U.S.A.; Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, North Carolina, U.S.A.Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas, Prisma Health, Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.A.ATI Physical Therapy, Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.A.ATI Physical Therapy, Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.A.; Address correspondence to Charles A. Thigpen, P.T., A.T.C., Ph.D., ATI Physical Therapy, 200 Patewood Dr., Suite C150, Greenville, SC, 29615, U.S.A.Abstract: Arm injuries are the most common throwing injury, with growing concern as the most severe injuries, such as UCL reconstruction, continue to rise. Furthermore, throwing injuries are frequently recurrent, suggesting once injured, players are at increased risk for another arm injury. The increase in injury rates and severity has been attributed to increases in pitching volume and year-round participation, and specialized training. Thus, initial efforts to prevent arm injuries by USA Baseball and Little League have focused on the extrinsic factor of pitching exposure in the form of pitch counts, yet arm injury rates have stayed constant. Therefore, injury prevention strategies should include extrinsic factors and address modifiable, intrinsic factors that are associated with arm injury. Collectively addressing factors, such as shoulder range of motion and strength deficits, trunk and lower extremity function, and implantation of training programs yields a comprehensive approach to reduce arm injury rates. We will use a directed acyclic graph (DAG) to organize how the internal factors (i.e., fatigue, injury history, range of motion, and strength) interact with the external factors (i.e., training load and pitching exposure) and how together they are thought contribute to potential injury and inform arm injury reduction strategies. This will provide a roadmap to build adaptable arm injury reduction strategies to improve the modifiable physical factors in context of the external factors that change over time and between throwing athletes. Level of Evidence: Level V, expert opinion.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666061X24001809
spellingShingle Daniel Kline, P.T., D.P.T, S.C.S.
Sarah Kate Fischer, P.T., D.P.T., S.C.S.
Garrett S. Bullock, P.T., D.P.T., D.Phil.
Michael J. Kissenberth, M.D.
Ellen Shanley, P.T., Ph.D., O.C.S.
Charles A. Thigpen, P.T., A.T.C., Ph.D.
Risk Factors and Injury Prevention in the Throwing Athlete
Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation
title Risk Factors and Injury Prevention in the Throwing Athlete
title_full Risk Factors and Injury Prevention in the Throwing Athlete
title_fullStr Risk Factors and Injury Prevention in the Throwing Athlete
title_full_unstemmed Risk Factors and Injury Prevention in the Throwing Athlete
title_short Risk Factors and Injury Prevention in the Throwing Athlete
title_sort risk factors and injury prevention in the throwing athlete
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666061X24001809
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