Increased Valgus Carrying Angle at the Elbow correlates with Shoulder and Elbow injuries in Professional Pitchers: A Prospective Study

摘要

Objectives:Injuries to the shoulder and elbow continue to be a problem in overhead athletes. To our knowledge, it has not yet been shown how the bony anatomy measured on physical exam, specifically valgus carrying angle at the elbow (VCA), correlates with injury risk. It is known that athletes commonly have an increased VCA thought to be secondary to adaptive changes due to repetitive stress. The purpose of our study was to prospectively determine whether the presence of an increased dominant arm (D) VCA is correlated with the onset of shoulder and elbow injuries.