| Jan 2011 my son (13 yrs old) had hurt his elbow pitching. According to our dr. it was a growth plate issue, so he was refrained from pitching for a couple of months. This Jan. 2012, (now 14 yrs old) he reinjured his elbow. He had another MRI shortly after showing a partial tear of the ucl and a 2mm T sign. The radiologist compared the 2 MRI’s and said the partial tear appeared to be there in Jan. 2011. He has not been using his arm/elbow for anything since. His new dr. has recommended the prp. He told us to check it out on the internet which we have and we have scheduled it for this coming Fri. Jan. 17, 2012. We are wondering if it will really be beneficial since the injury is over a month old and possibly over a year old. We actually have so many questions and no one to talk to. My son has it in his head his elbow is going to be so much stronger, is this true or does it mainly speed up the healing and will it even do so after so long? Thank you for your time and any information you are able to share with me. | |
 Dr. Andrew Blecher |
If the growth plate is now closed (which is possible in the throwing arm of a 14 year old, although other growth plates main remain open for another 5 years) or if there is no edema around the growth plate on MRI, then it is likely that the symptoms are in fact coming from the UCL. Another helpful tool would be to do a diagnostic ultrasound of the elbow. If in fact the UCL is the culprit then it is likely an acute on top of a chronic injury. I have treated these with PRP in professional baseball pitchers before with tremendous success. With appropriate rehab and a return to throwing program your son should be able to return to his pre-injury status within about 3-4 months. Yes, his elbow will feel stronger. It will be important that he be monitored closely to prevent future or recurrent injuries however. |
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