Little League shoulder: a growth plate injury

Abstract

A 13-year-old boy, a baseball pitcher, presented with right shoulder pain while throwing. The external oblique image shows widening, irregularity and fragmentation of the proximal humeral physis (Fig. 1). Figure 2 is a comparison radiograph of the asymptomatic left shoulder. Little League shoulder was first described by Dotter [1] in 1953. This injury is commonly known as proximal humeral epiphysiolysis, a confusing term, because Little League shoulder is likely an overuse or stress injury of the proximal humeral growth plate or the adjacent metaphysis rather than