Valgus laxity of the ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow in collegiate athletes

In this investigation, we determined the patterns of valgus laxity and acqu ired valgus laxity of the ulnar collateral ligament in the elbows of colleg iate athletes involved in overhead and nonoverhead sports. Acquired valgus laxity of the elbow is defined as the differential amount of stress valgus opening between the dominant and nondominant elbows. Forty-eight asymptomat ic male athletes involved in sports that require overhead arm movements (ba seball, tennis, and swimming) and 88 asymptomatic male athletes involved in nonoverhead sports (track, lacrosse, fencing, and wrestling) underwent flu oroscan examination of both their elbows with (13 daN) and without (0 N) va lgus stress. There were no statistically significant differences in the amo unt of valgus stress opening or in acquired valgus laxity between the two g roups. In fact, 25% (34 of 136) of the athletes showed an acquired valgus l axity of more than 0.5 mm, and 51.5% (70 of 136) had an acquired valgus lax ity that was actually negative. There was also no correlation between the n umber of years played and acquired valgus laxity. Our results show that acq uired valgus laxity does not exist in asymptomatic athletes involved in ove rhead sports, and there is no threshold value of measurement indicative of acquired valgus laxity.