Watch out for the boys of summer. A recent study examined 95 patients from 8 to 17 years of age who were all found to be suffering from Little League Shoulder (LLS). The subjects came from a single pediatric referral center between the years 1999 and 2013.
Baseball’s Toll on Young Players
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According to a report by the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) the treatment options for players included rest in 98% of the cases, physical therapy in 79% and a position change on the field for 25% after they had returned to play.
The average time for return to play was 4.2 months. Almost a third of the young athletes showed a reduced range of motion and these same patients were three times more likely to experience a recurrence of their injury 6 to 12 months after returning to play. Baseball players made up 97% of the affected athletes and half of them were between the ages of 12 and 13.
Benton E. Heyworth, M.D., who was involved in the study, said, “The data showed 13% of patients treated also reported elbow pain, 10% reported shoulder pain or weakness, and 8% reported other mechanical symptoms. These related symptoms should be recognized as possible identifiers for injured athletes in the future.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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