Sufficient duration of off-season decreases elbow disorders in elementary school-aged baseball players

Several guidelines for the prevention of throwing injuries recommend a sufficiently long off-season; however, few studies providing scientific evidence to support these recommendations exist. Our study aimed to clarify the association between off-season duration and throwing elbow injuries among elementary school-aged baseball players.

This study enrolled 680 elementary school-aged baseball players who underwent medical checkups. The experience with elbow pain and the off-season duration were investigated via the administration of a self-completed questionnaire. Ultrasonographic assessment of the elbow joint was performed on the day of the medical checkup to assess for morphologic abnormalities.

The prevalence of elbow pain and morphologic abnormalities of the medial epicondyle (medial epicondyle lesions) was significantly decreased when the subjects' off-season duration was longer. Multivariate analysis revealed that the risk of elbow pain was significantly lower in the group whose off-season lasted 1 to 2 months (odds ratio [OR], 0.32; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15-0.62; P = .0006) and in the group whose off-season lasted longer than 2 months (OR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.37-0.95; P = .0316). The risk of medial epicondyle lesions was also significantly lower in the group whose off-season lasted 1 to 2 months (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.22-0.67; P = .0005) and in the group whose off-season lasted longer than 2 months (OR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.23-0.56; P < .0001). On the contrary, no significant correlation was found between capitellar osteochondritis dissecans and off-season duration.

Off-season duration has a significant correlation with elbow pain and morphologic abnormalities of the medial elbow joint in elementary school-aged baseball players.