Tommy John Surgery

With spring training in full gear and opening day right around the corner, baseball injuries are starting to crop up. A common injury among pitchers is a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). This ligament is found on the medial (inside) of the elbow and is critical to stabilize the elbow during the overhand throwing motion. Most of the time it is injured over time due to the repetitive stress placed on the ligament from overhand throwing. In 1974, Tommy John, a pitcher for the Dodgers, tore the UCL in his pitching arm. Up until this point, this injury was considered to be a career ending injury, much like an ACL tear was to a football player. Tommy John was not ready to quit playing baseball, so he asked Dr. Frank Jobe to invent a procedure to repair the ligament. Dr. Jobe took a tendon from John's forearm, and used this tendon as a replacement for the UCL. The surgery was a success and John won over 170 games after the procedure, which bears his name. Today, many of the best pitchers in baseball have had Tommy John surgery, including Chris Carpenter, John Smoltz, Josh Johnson, and A.J. Burnett. The tendon that is now commonly used as a replacement for the UCL is the palmaris longus. Rehabilitation after surgery generally takes 12-18 months, and will vary depending on whether the pitcher is a starter or a reliever.