TY - JOUR
T1 - Shoulder Injuries in Professional Baseball Batters
T2 - Analysis of 3,414 Injuries Over an 8-Year Period
AU - Marigi, Erick M.
AU - Conte, Stan
AU - Reinholz, Anna K.
AU - Steubs, John A.
AU - Knudsen, Michael L.
AU - Krych, Aaron J.
AU - Camp, Christopher L.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors report the following potential conflicts of interest or sources of funding: E.M.M. reports other from Stryker Corp., United States, outside the submitted work. S.C. reports and Major League Baseball medical research, United States—consultant. J.A.S. reports other from Gemini Medical LLC and Arthrex, outside the submitted work. M.L.K. reports other from Arthrex and Gemini Medical LLC, outside the submitted work. A.J.K. reports grants from Aesculap/B. Braun, grants and other from Arthrex, United States, grants from Arthritis Foundation, grants from Ceterix, grants from Histogenics, United States, grants from DJO, LLC, personal fees from Gemini Mountain Medical, LLC, other from Vericel, and other from JRF Ortho, outside the submitted work, and American Journal of Sports Medicine—editorial or governing board, International Cartilage Regeneration & Joint Preservation Society—board or committee member, International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine— board or committee member, Minnesota orthopedic society—board or committee member, Musculoskeletal Transplantation Foundation—board or committee member, and Minnesota Timberwolves—team physician. C.L.C. reports personal fees from Arthrex, other from Zimmer Biomet Holdings, United States, and other from Gemini Medical LLC, outside the submitted work, and Minnesota Twins—team physician. Full ICMJE author disclosure forms are available for this article online, as supplementary material.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - Purpose: To characterize the shoulder injuries experienced by baseball batters and position players (nonpitchers); to quantify the outcomes of these injuries with respect to time out of play, recurrence, and surgery rates; and to identify any injury patterns that are associated with worse outcomes. Methods: Between 2011 and 2017, all Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) players who sustained shoulder injuries were identified using the MLB Health and Injury Tracking System (HITS). Injuries were included if they were sustained during baseball activity, resulted in at least 1 day missed (DM), and occurred in position players (nonpitchers). Results: Over the study period, a total of 3,414 shoulder injuries occurred in batters, resulting in a sum of 68,808 DM and a mean of 22 DM per injury. Most injuries were a result of acute trauma (n = 2125; 62.2%) with throwing as the predominant activity (n = 1292; 38%). Rotator cuff strain/tears was the most common diagnosis (n = 790; 23.1%), and SLAP tears had the highest season-ending rate (35.3%) and need for surgery (45.1%). There was a lower frequency of surgery (6.2% vs 9.2%; P = .002) and reinjury (2.03% vs 3.62%; P = .007) in the throwing shoulder vs the nonthrowing shoulder. There was an increased frequency of surgery for the front versus the back batting shoulder (8.2% vs 6.2%; P = .031) with similar DM (20.7 vs 22.2; P = .333) and return to play rates (94.0% vs 92.2%; P = .135). Conclusions: During the 7-season study period, there were a total of 3,414 shoulder injuries that resulted in nearly 70,000 days of out of play in professional baseball position players/batters (nonpitchers). Although pitchers were intentionally excluded from the analysis, throwing was still the most common mechanism of injury, and rotator cuff injuries were the most common injury. Labral tears were the most likely injury to be season ending and require surgery. Clinical Relevance: This study is meant to help determine characteristics of shoulder injuries that occur in non-pitchers by focusing on professional baseball batters and position players. This information could be helpful to sports medicine practitioners and shoulder specialists to better prognosticate injury recovery.
AB - Purpose: To characterize the shoulder injuries experienced by baseball batters and position players (nonpitchers); to quantify the outcomes of these injuries with respect to time out of play, recurrence, and surgery rates; and to identify any injury patterns that are associated with worse outcomes. Methods: Between 2011 and 2017, all Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) players who sustained shoulder injuries were identified using the MLB Health and Injury Tracking System (HITS). Injuries were included if they were sustained during baseball activity, resulted in at least 1 day missed (DM), and occurred in position players (nonpitchers). Results: Over the study period, a total of 3,414 shoulder injuries occurred in batters, resulting in a sum of 68,808 DM and a mean of 22 DM per injury. Most injuries were a result of acute trauma (n = 2125; 62.2%) with throwing as the predominant activity (n = 1292; 38%). Rotator cuff strain/tears was the most common diagnosis (n = 790; 23.1%), and SLAP tears had the highest season-ending rate (35.3%) and need for surgery (45.1%). There was a lower frequency of surgery (6.2% vs 9.2%; P = .002) and reinjury (2.03% vs 3.62%; P = .007) in the throwing shoulder vs the nonthrowing shoulder. There was an increased frequency of surgery for the front versus the back batting shoulder (8.2% vs 6.2%; P = .031) with similar DM (20.7 vs 22.2; P = .333) and return to play rates (94.0% vs 92.2%; P = .135). Conclusions: During the 7-season study period, there were a total of 3,414 shoulder injuries that resulted in nearly 70,000 days of out of play in professional baseball position players/batters (nonpitchers). Although pitchers were intentionally excluded from the analysis, throwing was still the most common mechanism of injury, and rotator cuff injuries were the most common injury. Labral tears were the most likely injury to be season ending and require surgery. Clinical Relevance: This study is meant to help determine characteristics of shoulder injuries that occur in non-pitchers by focusing on professional baseball batters and position players. This information could be helpful to sports medicine practitioners and shoulder specialists to better prognosticate injury recovery.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.asmr.2022.03.012
DO - 10.1016/j.asmr.2022.03.012
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85130424774
SN - 2666-061X
VL - 4
SP - e1119-e1126
JO - Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation
JF - Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation
IS - 3
ER -