Physeal changes and range-of-motion differences in the dominant shoulders of skeletally immature baseball players

Scott D. Mair, Tim L. Uhl, Rudy G. Robbe, Kathleen A. Brindle

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

58 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to document range-of-motion differences and radiographic changes in the dominant shoulder of skeletally immature throwers and to determine how pain associated with throwing may relate to these changes. Seventy-nine male youth baseball players (aged 8-15 years) completed a questionnaire, a shoulder examination, and a series of radiographs to determine physeal changes and humeral retroversion. Radiographs were reviewed and interpreted by a blinded musculoskeletal radiologist. Measurement of proximal humeral physeal width revealed a significant increase on the dominant side for the entire group, in subjects with a history of symptoms during the current season, and in subjects who had never had symptoms. Visual radiographic changes were commonly found in subjects with a history of pain (16/26 [62%]) as well as in those subjects without symptoms (29/53 [55%]). Subjects had increased external rotation of the dominant arm as compared with the nondominant arm, and this pattern increased in magnitude as the throwers aged. Range-of-motion and radiographic asymmetry of the shoulders is common, is often asymptomatic, and may represent adaptive changes in this population.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)487-491
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery
Volume13
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 2004

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding for this study was provided by an internal University of Kentucky Medical Center grant.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Surgery
  • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

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