As more teens get involved with playing team sports, more injuries arise. Those injuries, in many cases, can lead to surgery. More specifically, Tommy John surgery (TJS).
Also known as ulnar collateral ligment reconstruction, this surgery is a procedure in which a ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from somewhere else in the body. That usually comes from a hamstring, forearm or foot of the patient.
The surgery was named after Tommy John, a famous baseball player who pitched for six different teams over the course of his career. The late Dr. Frank Jobe, who was then the team doctor for the Los Angeles Dodgers, first performed the surgery on John in 1974. The surgery was a success, and John pitched for 13 years after it.
Nowadays, more and more teens are getting the surgery after intensely straining their arms from throwing too much. ABC 2 anchor Jamie Costello sat down with Dr. Derek Papp, the team physician for the Baltimore Orioles, to discuss whether the Tommy John surgery is a good idea for children.
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