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Kang, Kim, Hwang, Chung, Kim, and Kim: Little Leaguer Shoulder with Contralateral Thrower's Fracture of the Humerus in Adolescent Baseball Pitchers
Case Report
Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association

Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association 2010; 45(1): 73-77.

Published online: 28 February 2010

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4055/jkoa.2010.45.1.73

Little Leaguer Shoulder with Contralateral Thrower's Fracture of the Humerus in Adolescent Baseball Pitchers

Suk Kang, M.D., Jong Pil Kim, M.D., Chung Soo Hwang, M.D., Phil Hyun Chung, M.D., Young Sung Kim, M.D., Youn Gu Kim, M.D.

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.

Correspondence to: Jong Pil Kim, M.D. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dongguk University Collage of Medicine, 1090-1, Sukjang-dong, Gyeongju 780-350, Korea. TEL: +82-54-770-8221, FAX: +82-54-770-8378, kjpil@dongguk.ac.kr

Received 9 June 2009       Accepted 14 November 2009

Copyright © 2010 by The Korean Orthopaedic Association

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Baseball-related injuries are on the rise due to its increasing popurity as an international sports. Among them, Little League Shoulder is characterized by pain when pitching and is associated with specific roentgenographic changes in adolescent baseball pitchers. Ball thrower's fracture is defined as a fracture of the humeral diaphysis resulting from overhead throwing without any external contact but it is rare in adolescents. We report a case of Little League Shoulder with a contralateral thrower's fracture of the humeral shaft related to baseball pitching in an ambidextrous adolescent baseball pitcher with a review of the relevant literature.

Keywords: humerus, epiphysiolysis, little league shoulder, thrower's fracture, baseball

Figures and Tables

Figure 1
Initial both shoulder AP radiograph demonstrates widening of physis of left proximal humerus compared to right side (arrow).
jkoa-45-73-g001
Figure 2
Left shoulder MRI shows widening of physis in T1WI and abnormal high signal intensity of anterolateral aspect of metaphysis of proximal humerus in T2WI.
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Figure 3
Right humerus X-ray shows oblique fracture of humeral shaft with a medial butterfly fragment.
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Figure 4
1 year follow up X-ray of right humerus reveals complete union of fracture and remodeling.
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Figure 5
Final both shoulder radiograph shows normal appearance of physis of left proximal humerus.
jkoa-45-73-g005

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crossref
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