What are the Risk Factors for Failure after Conservative Treatment of Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injuries of the Elbow in Baseball Players

Objectives: Recovery from ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injury of the elbow was previously thought to be beyond hope for baseball players. In recent years, however, surgical treatment of UCL injury in baseball players has resulted in a high return-to-play rate. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of rehabilitation as conservative treatment has been re-evaluated; many players can return to play by improving bodily functions and pitching forms without surgery. The factors that are cause adverse effect on conservative treatment and that bring them to surgery remain yet unclear. To identify the factors that affect to the results of conservative treatment, we prospectively compared the patients who were able to return to play with the patients who failed.