Examining Changes in Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction Surgery Patterns Among Professional Baseball Players

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Orthopedic Surgery
• Epidemiology

Background:

• The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is crucial for elbow stability in baseball pitchers.
• Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (UCLR) is a common surgical procedure for baseball players experiencing elbow injuries.
• Understanding trends in UCLR is vital for injury prevention and management in professional baseball.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the trends in elbow ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (UCLR) surgeries among professional baseball players.
• To identify significant changes in the annual number of UCLR procedures over the past five decades.
• To compare UCLR rates between Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) players.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective, descriptive epidemiological study was conducted using an open-source database.
• Data included 1801 professional male baseball pitchers who underwent UCLR between 1974 and 2024.
• Change-point analysis was employed to detect temporal shifts in UCLR surgery rates for MLB and MiLB players.

Main Results:

• Three significant change points in UCLR surgeries were identified for MLB players (around 1989, 2000, 2012).
• Three significant change points were also identified for MiLB players (around 2001, 2009, 2013).
• The annual number of UCLR surgeries has generally increased over the study period, with higher rates observed in MiLB compared to MLB.

Conclusions:

• There has been a consistent rise in UCLR surgeries in professional baseball over the last 50 years.
• Distinct temporal increases in UCLR procedures highlight evolving injury patterns or treatment seeking behaviors.
• Minor League Baseball consistently shows a higher annual volume of UCLR surgeries than Major League Baseball.