elbow irritation after tommy john surgery one year ago.

My son had tommy john surgery oct. 17, 2007. He did very well in his rehab and throwing program. He started pitching very little in fall ball games after permission from doctor and year since his operation was up.

Last Sunday he was pitching in a game and heard a pop in his elbow and his elbow felt dead and swelled up. He said it was a pop he felt in his elbow but not right where the operation was. He felt a pop but did not hear it. After that his arm felt dead and he was taken out of the game.

He said he did all before the game stretches and drills. He only threw 15 pitches in the game. He has no pain and the swelling has gone down after three days but a little is still there. His doctors nurse told us to wait a week and light toss in a week to see how is elbow feels. She thinks it maybe scar tissue breaking up in there and this did occur with another player last year who had this operation. Of course, if it still is swollen and feels dead, we will take him to get it checked out.

Just wondering what you think since I found this site. He had just started working on his curve ball again that may be the cause. He has taken it slow and the coach is real good about that. Have you heard of scar tissue popping in the elbow after this surgery and what do you think could cause the swelling and deadness?

Thanks.

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elbow irritation after tommy john surgery one year ago.

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Oct 30, 2008
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elbow irritation
by: Bart - SII

It is possible for him to be dealing with some scar tissue or adhesions in the elbow following the UCL reconstruction. If he has just recently starting throwing the curve, he could have broken up an adhesion, causing the pop.

This type of thing can cause some pain, swelling, and even a dead arm feeling, depending on where the adhesion was. It shouldn't cause any type of instability.

The other thing that could be going on is an irritation of the ulnar nerve. Sometimes the nerve can move out of its normal groove, causing a popping feeling and creating a dead arm sensation, with mild swelling and some pain. This can be accompanied by tingling/numbness along the pinkie and ring finger and outside of the palm.
Ulnar nerve instability after a tommy john procedure is not uncommon.

I would rest and ice for a few days, follow your doctors advice, and then recheck if things don't start to get better.

Bart

Jan 26, 2010
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My son also had Tommy john surgery in 2007
by: Anonymous

My son is in his senior year in college. He had the surgery in 2007 and has not been 100% yet. He struggled this past summer with a shoulder injury, it is better, however now he is having pain in elbow again. He is determined to pitch this season. An xray should nothing. I feel he needs an MRI and I don't think his trainer and coach are very proactive; however, I have tried to let them do their job. My son loves baseball more than anything and was a weekend starter his freshman year. His team has won numerous titles and has appeared in the College World Series. What should be concerned the most about and this be something that could be taken care of so he could pitch this season?