Purpose
To determine return to play (RTP) rates after biceps tenodesis (BT) in professional
baseball players.
Methods
Major League Baseball has maintained a prospective database containing all major and
minor league baseball players who have undergone shoulder surgery since 2010. All
players who had undergone BT were included. Minimum follow-up was 24 months, and thus
we included data from 2010 to 2013. Using this database we determined the incidence,
demographics, prior surgery history, concomitant procedures, RTP rates, and time to
RTP.
Results
Between 2010 and 2013, 17 professional baseball players underwent BT. Seventy-one
percent of the 17 were pitchers, and 29% of the 17 were in the major league. Forty-seven
percent of the 17 had a history of a prior shoulder surgery and 47% of the 17 underwent
concomitant labral repair. For all players, RTP after BT was 35%, whereas RTP after
BT without a concomitant reconstructive procedure was 44% in 10 ± 6 months, and 25%
for those who underwent both BT and a concomitant reconstructive procedure (P = .620). All players who RTP were able to return to at least 20 games at their preoperative
level of play. Return to professional play was 80% among position players and 17%
among pitchers (P = .028). For those pitchers who RTP, performance was not statistically changed.
Conclusions
Professional baseball players who undergo BT have a 35% rate of return to their prior
level of play. Whereas pitchers have only a 17% rate of RTP, position players have
an 80% rate of RTP. Of those who returned, all returned to their prior level of play.
The pitchers who returned had no significant change in performance statistics.
Level of Evidence
Level IV, therapeutic study, a case series.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: November 13, 2017
Accepted:
August 11,
2017
Received:
April 27,
2017
Footnotes
See commentary on page 752
The authors report the following potential conflicts of interest or sources of funding: A.A.R. is the board member of AOSSM, ASES, Orthopedics, Orthopedics Today, SAFE, SLACK, and LWW; receives consultancy fees from Arthrex; has grants/grants pending from Arthrex, DJO, Ossur, and Smith & Nephew; receives payment for lectures including service on speakers bureaus from Arthrex; and receives royalties and other support from Arthrex, Saunders, and SLACK. N.N.V. is the board member of AOSSM, ASES, Arthroscopy, AANA, JKS, and SLACK; receives consultancy fees from Minivasive, Orthospace, and Smith & Nephew; provides expert testimony to various; has grants/grants pending from Arthrex, Arthrosurface, DJ Orthopaedics, Ossur, Smith & Nephew, Athletico, ConMed Linvatec, Miomed, and Mitek; receives royalties from Arthroscopy, Smith & Nephew, and Vindico Medical; has stock/stock options in Cymedica and Omeros; and receives other support from Arthroscopy and Vindico Medical. Full ICMJE author disclosure forms are available for this article online, as supplementary material.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Published by Elsevier on behalf of the Arthroscopy Association of North America
ScienceDirect
Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- Editorial Commentary: The Shoulder Biceps Tendon and Baseball Continue Their Controversial RelationshipArthroscopyVol. 34Issue 3
- PreviewThe optimal treatment of shoulder SLAP tears in high-level baseball players remains highly controversial. In pitchers, many SLAP lesions are found incidentally on magnetic resonance imaging and may in fact be adaptive to the baseball pitcher's mechanics of throwing. Surgical repair of SLAP lesions requires lengthy rehabilitation, and outcomes have been similar to or worse than the results after nonoperative treatment. The treatment option of biceps tenodesis is an appealing alternative to SLAP repair, but the indications and technique of biceps tenodesis in the elite pitcher still need to be defined.
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