The Curse of the All-Star Team: A Single-Season Prospective Shoulder MRI Study of Little League Baseball Players

Conclusions: MRI abnormalities involving the dominant shoulder are common in Little League baseball players and often develop or worsen during the season. Contrary to our hypothesis, MRI abnormalities were not associated with player position and pitch counts. Instead, they were most closely associated with year round play, single sports participation, and all-star team selection. The increased demands required for all-star selection comes at a price to the young athlete as the majority of players selected for this honor had abnormal MRI findings in their throwing shoulder while few non all-stars demonstrated such pathology. Level of Evidence: Level II.
Source: Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics - Category: Orthopaedics Tags: Sports Medicine Source Type: research