Outcomes After Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction and Repair in Nonthrowing Athletes

Surgical management of ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tears in nonthrowing athletes is less commonly performed, and the outcomes of that management have not been thoroughly described.

To describe the clinical outcomes of surgical management of UCL injury in nonthrowing athletes.

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

A retrospective review was conducted on all patients who underwent UCL reconstruction or repair across a 10-year period (2010-2020), with nonthrowing athletes who had >2-year follow-up being specifically identified. Demographic variables such as age, sport participation, concomitant procedures, and graft type, as well as postoperative outcomes such as complications, patient satisfaction, return to play (RTP), and patient-reported outcomes (PROs), were recorded for the whole cohort as well as stratified by repair and reconstruction group. Data were presented as mean with standard deviation or median with range and odds ratio calculated as appropriate.

A total of 19 nonthrowing athletes undergoing either UCL reconstruction (n = 12) or repair (n = 7) met the inclusion criteria for the study. Sport participation included 5 cheerleaders, 4 wrestlers, 4 gymnasts, 2 lacrosse players, 1 boxer, 1 mixed martial arts fighter, and 1 football player (offensive lineman). The mean age for these patients was 20.1 ± 7.3 years with 52.6% of patients being female. The majority of tears were proximal (72.2%). Overall, 68.4% were able to RTP (58.3% UCL reconstruction; 85.7% repair) after 9.5 months (9.86 months UCL reconstruction; 9.0 months repair) with 76.9% (10/13) of the athletes returning to the same or higher level of competition.

This study demonstrates that surgical management via either UCL reconstruction or repair can result in high rates of good-to-excellent PROs, high levels of patient satisfaction, and time to RTP that is earlier, albeit with a slightly lower overall rate of RTP, than that generally described in throwing athletes.