Abstract
Objectives:
Latissimus dorsi tendon tears are a rare but significant injury to professional athletes. Professional baseball pitchers are specifically affected by this injury as the latissimus dorsi is heavily involved in the late cocking and acceleration phase of the pitching cycle. Treating these injuries is somewhat controversial as few published studies have demonstrated positive outcomes for both operative and non-operative treatment. This article aims to help further delineate the outcomes of operative treatment of latissimus dorsi tendon tears in professional baseball pitchers and examine their return to pitching.
Methods:
A single surgeon retrospective cohort of patients who underwent surgical repair of latissimus dorsi and/or teres major tendon tears from March 2021 to September 2023 was established. Patients’ involvement in athletics was recorded, and each patient was followed to assess their return to throwing and playing in games.
Results:
A cohort of twenty-six patients, nineteen baseball players, was established. Thirteen of the patients competed professionally, while seven were collegiate players. Nine of the players had attempted conservative treatment without improvement. MRI analysis revealed that all of the players had grade three or four tendon tears, example MRI and surgical repair shown in figure 1. Eight players underwent repair of the latissimus dorsi and teres major tendon. Ten patients underwent an isolated latissimus dorsi tendon repair, and one patient underwent teres major repair alone. All of the patients progressed into their post-operative return to throwing program. 73.7% (14/19) returned to playing in games at the same competition level on average 13.3 ± 4.6 months. Of the five who have not returned to playing in games, one patient sustained a partial infraspinatus tear during his recovery, which ultimately led to his retirement. The remaining four are still progressing towards their return, currently at post-operative months 13, 13, 11, and 8 months post-operatively.
Conclusions:
Surgical repair of a high-grade latissimus dorsi/teres tendon tear can allow a baseball pitcher to return to playing at their previous competition level in an average of 13 months.
