Baseball is in Dorsy's blood - literally. His dad played in the pros, and now the Bishop Hendricken star is committed to play NCAA Division I baseball for the University of Rhode Island. But this teen's pitching dreams were nearly dashed when he found out he had a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament and needed to undergo Tommy John surgery. From the initial diagnosis with Dr. Peter Kriz, surgery with Dr. Andrew Green, all the way through physical therapy with Mike Coyne - a former college baseball player himself - Dorsy and his family chose the professionals at University Orthopedics to guide them through the entire process. Now, Dorsy is on the mend and feels his future has never looked brighter.
The ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow is most often injured by repeated stress from overhead movement common in sports like throwing a baseball. Injury to the ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow has commonly been associated with baseball pitchers and made famous as "the Tommy John Surgery."
In 1974, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher was the first to undergo the procedure and return to competitive play. Today, UCL reconstruction is a common procedure with a high success rate.
In most cases of UCL injury, surgeons can reconstruct the ligament by using one of the patient’s own tendons to restore elbow strength and stability. The specific type of surgery (if needed) falls into 2 broad categories: repair or replace (or reconstruct). The direct repair process is usually for athletes with single acute injuries to the elbow where the ligament is largely intact.