1412 - Efficacy of UCL Repair with Internal Bracing for Athletes

UCL tears are amongst the most common and most debilitating injuries to occur to elite throwing athletes. Current therapies include the “Tommy John “surgery which is done through reconstruction of the UCL. Rate of UCL tears is rapidly increasing in elite athletes necessitating the need for more effective return to play option. Augmentation with Internal Bracing for direct repair has been trialed and can shorten return to play by upward of 9 months. The objective was to look into return to play and efficacy of Internal Bracing vs established “Tommy John” Surgery.


Design:

A review of common databases was conducted for clinical articles detailing the use of Internal Bracing in Athletes. Common data and outcomes were pooled, and significance calculated. One Sample T tests were used to compare results to preciously published values.


Results: Six studies were identified with a total of 634 patients with a mean return to play rate of 93.95% (p< 0.0268), Return to Sport time was 6.56 Months (p=0104). Mean KJOC score was 91.25 (P< 0.002). Complication rate was 18.69% with the most common complications being Ulnar Nerve paresthesia (8.5%) and Median Elbow Pain (3.4%) and was significantly decreased in complication rates compared to UCL reconstructions (p< 0.0001),

Conclusions: UCL reconstruction with Internal bracing shows similar clinical outcomes to established therapies. Associated complication rates were found to be similar to reconstruction therapies with significantly shorter return to play/function (6.56 months vs. 12 months). Limitations include potential heterogeneity within the selected studies. 

The significance of this abstract is to compile the available literature in regard to internal bracing for UCL injuries and summarizing their efficacy compared to the status quo. These results show that Internal bracing has the capability to provide similar efficacy while allowing elite athletes to return to play faster.