A study, published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, used MLB's Health Injury and Tracking System to evaluate elbow injuries in professional baseball players.
Michael Ciccotti, MD, of Philadelphia-based Rothman Institute, and colleagues examined 3,185 elbow injuries — 430 major league, 2,755 minor league — from 2011 to 2014.
Here's what they found out:
1. Major league and minor league players missed a similar amount of days and a similar number of players required surgery.
2. Approximately 20 percent of injuries required surgery.
3. Pitchers were most likely to injure their elbow. Approximately 40 percent of all injuries happened to pitchers and 34.2 percent of those injuries required surgery.
4. When treated non-surgically, pitchers had the greatest mean number of days missed at 33.2 days.
5. Medial injuries accounted for 42.1 percent of elbow injuries.
6. Of all observed elbow injuries, 57.2 percent involved ligaments.
Researchers concluded, "Elbow injuries are a considerable source of disability in professional baseball players. Pitchers are most likely to incur these injuries, are most likely to require surgery, and have the highest mean number of days missed when treated non-surgically. The most common injuries involve the medial elbow, with ligament injuries most often requiring surgery."
They added the study was an investigation into using a comprehensive injury surveillance system. Researchers believe the study provides a "basis for injury prevention and treatment recommendations, establishes the most thorough framework for determining elbow injury risk, and focuses continued research on elbow injury prevention in the elite baseball player."