Incidence and Return to Play After Biceps Tenodesis in Professional Baseball Players.

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.

Isolated Biceps Reflection Pulley Tears Treated With Subpectoral Biceps Tenodesis: Minimum 2-Year Outcomes.

PURPOSE: To investigate if patients younger than 50 years old had improved functional outcomes after subpectoral biceps tenodesis (BT) for the treatment of biceps reflection pulley (BRP) lesions at minimum 2-year postoperative follow-up. METHODS: Patients who had arthroscopically confirmed BRP tears that were treated with subpectoral BT and were at least 2 years out from surgery were included; patients were excluded if they had concomitant reconstructive or reparative procedures at index surgery. Patient-centered outcomes including return to activity, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES), Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (QuickDASH), and Short Form-12 Physical Component Summary (SF-12 PCS) scores, and patient satisfaction were collected. The pre- and postoperative scores were compared with a Wilcoxon test. Failure was defined as revision BT. RESULTS: Between January 2006 and July 2014, of 1,184 patients who underwent open subpectoral BT, 14 patients (6 male, 8 female) with mean age 37 (range, 16-49 years) met the inclusion criteria. Minimum 2-year outcomes data were available for all 14 patients (100% follow-up). The mean follow-up was 3.6 ± 1.3 years. There were significant improvements postoperatively for all outcome scores (P = .017 ASES, P = .002 QuickDASH, P = .003 SF-12 PCS). There was no correlation between age and outcome scores (P > .05). Median patient satisfaction was 9 of 10. Five patients (36%) reported return to recreational activity with no modifications; 9 (64%) indicated a return to activity with modifications. The 5 patients who returned to recreational activity with no modification had significantly less time from initial injury/onset of symptoms until surgery in comparison with the 9 patients who modified their activity (P = .028). No complications or reoperations were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Patients younger than 50 years old with a symptomatic isolated BRP lesion experienced excellent results, high return to recreational activity, little postoperative pain, and high degrees of satisfaction when treated with subpectoral BT. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic case series.

[Surgical treatment of posterosuperior impingement (PSI)]. / Operative Therapie des posterosuperioren Impingements (PSI).

OBJECTIVE: To restore the physiologic anterior and posterior capsular volume to achieve an anatomic central contact point of the glenohumeral articulation and treatment of concomitant glenohumeral injuries due to posterosuperior impingement (PSI). INDICATIONS: Plateauing of clinical improvement despite adequate nonsurgical treatment (for at least 6-12 months). CONTRAINDICATIONS: General contraindications for elective arthroscopic surgery. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Diagnostic arthroscopy of the glenohumeral joint through the posterior portal to assess stability of the biceps-labral complex even in the Abduction and External Rotation (ABER) position to confirm the diagnosis of PSI and to detect concomitant glenohumeral injuries. In most cases posterosuperior SLAP (superior labrum anterior posterior) repair or tenodesis of the long head of the biceps. POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT: Arm sling for 6 weeks with limited range of motion. Free active range of motion of elbow and wrist. Limited shoulder external rotation for 6 weeks. Free shoulder range of motion from week 7, full daily life activities after 12 weeks. Modification of the postoperative management according to intraoperative findings. RESULTS: At our hospital 18 overhead athletes (6 women, 12 men, mean age 31 years) with PSI without SLAP lesion or rotator cuff tear underwent isolated plication of the anteroinferior capsule after primary nonsurgical treatment. At a mean period of 9 months, 16 patients returned to their pre-injury sports activity level, 2 patients had to give up their sports due to persisting shoulder problems. At a mean follow-up of 27 months (range 12-55 months) the Walch Duplay score was on average 82.9 ± 8.3 for men and 73.8 ± 5.9 for women.

Outcome of a one-stage tensile stress surgical technique and early postoperative rehabilitation in the treatment of neglected achilles tendon rupture.

The present study evaluated the effect of single-stage internal traction combined with early postoperative active rehabilitation and the yurt bone suture method, a new surgical technique, on the clinical outcomes after surgical repair of Achilles tendon. A total of 51 patients with neglected Achilles tendon rupture who underwent the yurt bone suture treatment also participated in an accelerated postoperative rehabilitation program. The clinical outcome was evaluated for 18 weeks using the Leppilahti scoring system, bilateral ultrasound examination, and computed tomography examination. The ultrasound and computed tomography examinations revealed that Achilles tendon elongation and adhesion occurred in none of the patients. All the patients could perform the single leg heel raise exercise for a mean of 30 ± 7.6 seconds at 12 weeks postoperatively. In addition, the patients could participate in sport exercises and heavy physical activities by around 13 weeks postoperatively. The mean Leppilahti score was 85.8 ± 3.7 at 8 weeks postoperatively, and it had increased to 96.1 ± 3.2 and 100.0 ± 0.0 at 12 and 18 weeks, respectively, after the operation. The 1-stage internal traction technique, combined with early postoperative active rehabilitation and the yurt bone surgical technique, resulted in good clinical outcomes for the treatment of neglected Achilles tendon rupture.

Delayed early passive motion is harmless to shoulder rotator cuff healing in a rabbit model.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative passive motion is the most widely accepted rehabilitation protocol after rotator cuff repair; however, a rotator cuff retear remains a frequent surgical complication. Clinical outcomes indicate that early passive motion is harmless to rotator cuff healing, but no laboratory evidence supports this proposition. HYPOTHESES: (1) Immediate postoperative immobilization improves rotator cuff healing in rabbits. (2) Early passive motion after short-term immobilization does not harm rotator cuff healing in rabbits. STUDY DESIGN: Controlled laboratory study. METHODS: An injury to the supraspinatus tendon was created and repaired in 90 New Zealand White rabbits, after which they were randomly separated into 3 groups: (1) nonimmobilization (NI; n = 30), (2) continuous immobilization (IM; n = 30), and (3) immobilization with early passive motion (IP; n = 30). At 3, 6, and 12 weeks postoperatively, 5 rabbits from each group were sacrificed for histological evaluation, biomechanical testing, and magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: The histological study demonstrated better postoperative healing in the IM and IP groups, with clusters of chondrocytes accumulated at the tendon-bone junction. Magnetic resonance imaging illustrated that the tendon-bone junction was intact in the IM and IP groups. The magnetic resonance quantification analysis showed that the signal-to-noise quotient (SNQ) of the NI group was not significantly higher than that of the immobilization groups at 3 weeks (P = .232) or 6 weeks (P = .117), but it was significantly different at 12 weeks (NI vs IM, P = .006; NI vs IP, P = .009). At 12 weeks, the failure load was significantly higher in the IM and IP groups than in the NI group (NI vs IM, P = .002; NI vs IP, P = .002), but no difference was found between the IM and IP groups (P = .599). CONCLUSION: Immediate postoperative immobilization led to better tendon-bone healing than immediate postoperative mobilization, and under immobilization, early passive motion was harmless to tendon-bone healing in this study. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The results have an implication in supporting the rehabilitation protocol of early passive motion after rotator cuff repair.

Isokinetic muscle strength and knee function associated with double femoral pin fixation and fixation with interference screw in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

PURPOSE: Intensive scheduling in sports requires athletes to resume physical activity shortly after injury. The purpose of this study was to investigate early isokinetic muscle strength and knee function on bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) ACL reconstruction with double femoral pin fixation or interference screw technique. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted from 2008 to 2009, with 48 athletes who received femoral BPTB fixation with interference screw (n = 26) or double pin (n = 22). Clinical (IKDC objective score and hop test) and isokinetic muscle strength (peak torque (PT), PT/body weight and flexion/extension rate (F/E) in 60 and 240°/s) were analyzed at 6 months of follow-up. RESULTS: Analysis at baseline showed no differences between groups before surgery related to age, gender, associated injury, Tegner or Lysholm score; thus showing that groups were similar. During follow-up, however, there were significant differences between the two groups in some of the isokinetic muscle strength: PT/BW 60°/s (Double Pin = 200% ± 13% vs. Interference Screw = 253% ± 16%*, *P = 0.01); F/E 60°/s (Double Pin = 89% ± 29%* vs. Interference Screw = 74% ± 12%, *P = 0.04). No statistical differences between groups were observed on IKDC objective score, hop test and complications. CONCLUSION: The significant muscle strength outcome of the interference screw group found in this study gives initial evidence that this fixation technique is useful for athletes that may need accelerated rehabilitation. Early return to sports ability signaled by isokinetic muscle strength is of clinical relevance as it is one of the main goals for athletes' rehabilitation.