IC 08-2026-Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injuries: What are the Experts Doing in 2026?-IC 08-2026-Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injuries: What are the Experts Doing in 2026?

Video Transcription

Video Summary

This transcript covers a conference session on ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injuries in throwers, focusing on epidemiology, risk factors, surgical options, and case discussions.<br /><br />The first speaker reviews the “UCL epidemic,” emphasizing rising injury rates in youth, high school, and college athletes driven by velocity chasing, overuse, fatigue, year-round play, and unsafe training trends. Nonmodifiable risks include anatomy, prior injury, and geography; modifiable risks include workload, mechanics, velocity, pitch type, flexibility, and kinetic chain deficits. He stresses that poor lower-extremity or core function can increase stress on the elbow and that pitch counts alone are not enough to prevent injury. Education for parents and coaches is highlighted as essential.<br /><br />The second speaker discusses UCL repair, especially with internal brace augmentation. He explains that repair has resurged because of improved patient selection, better biomechanics, and faster return to sport compared with reconstruction. Repair is favored for young athletes with proximal or distal tears and good tissue quality, while reconstruction remains preferred for mid-substance tears, chronic injuries, or poor tissue. He also notes that repair can sometimes be used after failed reconstruction in selected cases.<br /><br />The third speaker argues for the continued value of UCL reconstruction. He emphasizes that MRI abnormalities are common in asymptomatic throwers and that surgery should be based on symptoms and tear pattern, not imaging alone. He outlines reconstruction techniques and notes that outcomes remain excellent and highly reliable, especially when there is no urgent timeline pressure.<br /><br />The session ends with several case discussions involving combined elbow pathology, nerve symptoms, ossicle/stress fracture management, pediatric throwers, and posterior elbow impingement, reinforcing the need to tailor treatment to the athlete, injury pattern, and season timing.

Keywords

ulnar collateral ligament

UCL injury

throwers

epidemiology

risk factors

UCL repair

internal brace

UCL reconstruction

pitching mechanics

youth athletes