Abstract
Rotator cuff tears in young overhead sports athletes are rare. The pathomechanism causing rotator cuff tears in young overhead athletes is different from that in aged patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate rotator cuff tear characteristics in young overhead sports athletes to reveal the pathomechanism causing these injuries. This study included 25 overhead sports athletes less than 30 years old with atraumatic rotator cuff tears necessitating repair. Rotator cuff tear characteristics were evaluated intraoperatively, including rotator cuff tear shape and injured rotator cuff tendon. Clinical outcome measures were assessed before surgery and at the final follow-up. In this study, 22 patients reported minimal to no shoulder pain and returned to sports without significant complaints at last follow-up. The isolated infraspinatus tendon was most often injured; the incidence rate of the tear at this site was 32% (8 cases). In the deceleration phase of overhead motion, the eccentric contraction force of the ISP (infraspinatus) tendon peaks and the increased load leads to injury at the ISP tendon. The pathomechanism of rotator cuff injuries in young overhead athletes might be not only internal or subacromial impingement, but also these mechanisms.
Highlights
Overhead shoulder injuries are variously named overused syndrome, rotator cuff injury, articular labrum damage, little league shoulder, and rotator cuff tear
Rotator cuff tears are a common cause of shoulder injury and lead to taking a longterm break from the sport
Diagnosis was based on history and clinical findings together with the results of arthrographic or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) investigations
Summary
Overhead shoulder injuries are variously named overused syndrome, rotator cuff injury, articular labrum damage, little league shoulder, and rotator cuff tear. Basic overhead motions such as throwing are routine, and injury develops due to repeated motion and environmental and individual factors. The reasons these injuries occur include functional disorders of the lower limbs, the chest, pelvic girdle, or the shoulder girdle and collapse of the kinetic chain. Rotator cuff tears generally affect patients older than 40 years old [1]. Neer claimed that 95% of rotator cuff tears were caused by impingement, and this condition generally occurred in patients 40 years and older [4]
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