Outcomes Following Shoulder and Elbow Injury in Baseball Players: Are we Reporting What Matters?

Once these players are injured, the goal of treatment is to restore their ability to compete at the preinjury level. However, return to play is just one of many outcome metrics that are available for measurement, because a variety of objective measures (ie, range of motion, strength, stability) and subjective measures (satisfaction scores and patient-reported outcome[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none” last=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all”][fusion_text][PRO] measures) exist. For professional athletes, advanced performance metrics have also become increasingly utilized. Examples of such metrics include earned run average (ERA), batting average against, walks plus hits per inning pitched, and several others that are routinely collected during pitching performances of (typically) collegiate and professional players. Unfortunately, an excess of outcome reporting options may also lead to confusion when trying to compare the results of clinical studies of a given intervention that report 2 different outcome scores. Moreover, given the high level of performance and demands placed on these players’ upper extremities, traditional reporting scores (eg, the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand [DASH] or Short Form scores) may exhibit a prohibitive ‘‘ceiling effect,’’ forcing clinicians to incorporate less widely used scores. Prior studies of patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction have demonstrated that, despite all having a common diagnosis, significant variability in outcome reporting patterns exists, rendering comparisons across different studies challenging.